New Delhi: Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for academic collaboration with Birla Institute of Management and Technology (BIMTECH), Greater Noida and Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad on January 14, 2010, and is also entering into an agreement with International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Bangalore, for endowment of SAIL Chair in the presence of G. Ojha, Director (Personnel), SAIL.

The MoUs were signed with the focus of strengthening industry-academic interface keeping the objective of fostering collaboration between the two institutions to promote academic and research interactions.

"Prof. S. Sadagopan, Director, IIIT, Bangalore signed the MoU with IIIT, while the MoUs with BIMTECH and IMT were signed by Prof. Dr. Anupam Varma, Deputy Director, BIMTECH and Dr B D Singh, Dean (MDP & Consulting), IMT, Ghaziabad," said an official press release from the Ministry of Steel.

On behalf of SAIL, S. P. Patnaik, Executive Director (HRD) / SAIL MTI signed the MoUs.

These collaborations are aimed at fostering a strong bond between academia and industry which will contribute to faster industrial growth within the country and also add to sustained growth for both SAIL and these academic institutions.

"These collaborations will help SAIL immensely in opening up new horizons of knowledge for its executives and will provide practical insights to the students of these institutions who will get rare opportunity to learn the working of a giant steel industry, which is the pride of nation," said a Ministry official.

This is another step forward by Management Training Institute (MTI) in its continual efforts to enhance its quality of academics to excellent standards by sharing knowledge and expertise with these reputed management and IT institutions.

SAIL/MTI has already entered into MoU with reputed academic institutions like Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), IIM-Indore and Management Development Institute, Gurgaon (MDI), technical institutes like Indian School of Mines University (ISMU) Dhanbad and Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS) and technological leaders like SKF Ltd., Siemen Ltd. and Bosch Rexroth.

Inking MoU with IIIT, Bangalore, BIMTECH, Greater Noida and IMT, Ghaziabad is another significant milestone in HRD efforts of Management Training Institute (MTI) of SAIL in collaborating with leading institutions of the country, which has global presence.