BHUBANESWAR: Odisha should vie for establishment of university township around its universities and must take advantage of the initiative announced in the Union Budget 2026-27, educationists have stated.

Former vice-chancellor of Rama Devi Women’s University Padmaja Mishra told TNIE, “Setting up of the townships will help expanding educational activities in universities beyond teaching and research. Their establishment in the vicinity of major industrial and logistics corridors, as proposed in the budget, will enable the universities to act as skilling centres, offer training to MSMEs and encourage more community engagement.”

Districts like Sambalpur, Jajpur, Angul and Balasore also have the potential to develop such university townships.

This story is reported by Sudarsan Maharana of The New Indian Express.