PM Modi to inaugurate new campus of Nalanda University on Wednesday

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the new campus of Nalanda University in Bihar's Rajgir on Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and ambassadors of 17 nations are expected to attend the event being organised for inauguration of the campus.

The new campus of the university is close to the site of the ancient ruins of Nalanda. This university was established through the Nalanda University Act, 2010.

The Act provided for implementing a decision arrived at the second East Asia Summit held in the Philippines in 2007 for the establishment of university.

Nalanda University was established in the fifth century which attracted students from all over the world. The ancient university flourished for 800 years before it was destroyed by invaders in the 12th century, according to experts.

The new university started functioning in 2014 from a makeshift location with 14 students. Construction work on the university started in 2017.

This university, apart from India, has participation from 17 other nations -- Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. These countries have signed MoUs in support of the university.

The university offers 137 scholarships to international students.

The international students enrolled in the Post Graduate programmes for the academic years 2022-24, 2023-25 and for PhD programme in 2023-27 include students from Argentina, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Laos, Liberia, Myanmar, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Thailand, Turkiye, Uganda, USA, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

The university has six schools including the School of Buddhist Studies, Philosophy & Comparative Religions; the School of Historical Studies; the School of Ecology and Environmental Studies; the School of Sustainable Development and Management.