NATIONAL: Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a plaque at the new campus of Nalanda University in Rajgir as he inaugurated the campus in Bihar on Wednesday morning. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Bihar Governor Rajendra Arlekar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy CMs Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha, and other delegates are present at the new campus of Nalanda University. Ambassadors from 17 countries also attended the event. Earlier this morning, PM Modi visited and took a tour of the ruins of the ancient Nalanda Mahavihara.

The visit marks the first visit by the Prime Minister to the State after the Lok Sabha election. The ancient Nalanda University, established around 1600 years ago, is considered among the world’s first residential universities. The new university campus is created to be a replica of the historic Nalanda University. Taking to social media platform X this morning, PM Modi wrote, It’s an extraordinary day for our education sector. At around 10:30 AM today, the new campus of Nalanda University will be inaugurated at Rajgir. Nalanda has a strong connection with our glorious past. This university will surely go a long way in catering to the educational needs of the youth.

Highlighting Nalanda’s “strong connection with our glorious past,” PM Modi said the university will surely go a long way in catering to the educational needs of the youth. The campus has two academic blocks with 40 classrooms, with a total seating capacity of around 1900. It has two auditoriums with a capacity of 300 seats each. It has a student hostel with a capacity of around 550 students. It also has various other facilities, including an international center, an arena that can accommodate up to 2000 individuals, a faculty club, and a sports complex, among others. The Campus is a ‘Net Zero’ Green Campus.

It is self-sustaining with solar plants, domestic and drinking water treatment plants, a water recycling plant for reusing wastewater, 100 acres of water bodies, and many other environment-friendly facilities. The university is conceived as a collaboration between India and East Asia Summit (EAS) countries. It has a deep connection with history.

The Nalanda University Campus has two Academic Blocks with 40 Classrooms having a total seating capacity of around 1900. It has two auditoriums having a capacity of 300 seats each, a student hostel with a capacity of around 550 students, and various other facilities including an International Centre, an Amphitheater that can accommodate up to 2000 individuals, a Faculty Club and a Sports Complex among others.

The Campus is a ‘Net Zero’ Green Campus. It is Self-Sustainable with solar plants, domestic and drinking water treatment plants, a water recycling plant for reusing wastewater, 100 acres of water bodies, and many other environment-friendly facilities. The University has a deep connection with history. The original Nalanda University, established around 1600 years ago, is considered to be amongst the first residential universities in the world. The ruins of Nalanda were declared as a UN Heritage Site in 2016. (with inputs from media agency)