Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the establishment of a new campus for the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Guwahati, a move Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma hailed as a “transformative step” for the state’s higher education landscape.

As per a report by PTI, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday, August 14, expressed his gratitude to PM Narendra Modi and the Union Cabinet for approving the establishment of the IIM Guwahati campus.

Speaking at a press conference, Sarma said a Bill for the new IIM will be introduced in Parliament later this month. The institute will be mentored by IIM Ahmedabad, and the state government is working to start classes as early as this year from a temporary campus. The permanent campus will come up at Palasbari, near Guwahati, in Kamrup district.

With this addition, Guwahati will join the ranks of cities hosting multiple flagship institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), National Law University (NLU), and a soon-to-be-established Forensic University.

“This institution will add to the long list of premier institutes in and around Guwahati and rightly position the city as a hub of quality higher education,” the CM said.

The IIM in Guwahati will be the second in the Northeast, following IIM Shillong, which was set up in 2007.