To develop textile, handloom and cottage industry in Haryana, the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) would be set up over an area of 10.45 acres in Panchkula near here at a cost of `100 crore.

Facts :

• Former HRD Minister Smriti Zuben Irani inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of the NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology) Panchkula centre.
• It would be the 17th campus of the prestigious National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).
• The construction work on the building of the Centre would begin soon and enrollment will start from session 2017-18.
• Approval was granted for the blueprint and construction work of the institute. It was also informed that the construction work of the building would be carried out by Haryana Police Housing Corporation.
• As many as six regular degree courses would be offered at the NIFT, Panchkula. These include four-year Bachelor of Design with major in Fashion Design or Textile Design, four-year Bachelor of Fashion technology with major in Apparel Production, two-year Master of Fashion Technology, two-year Master of Design, two-year Master of fashion Management and Certificate Programme of one-year-and-six-months as a part of the Continuing Education Programme.
• It is also learnt that the students of the institute will be guided and trained by several prominent international experts. The institute has entered into an agreement with 32 reputed global organisations from different parts of the world.
• As per a Shiksha report, the Centre, before completion of its building, will be functioning from a rented space at IT Park and Agro Mall in Panchkula for two years. NIFT already has centres in 16 other cities in India with its headquarters are at Delhi.
• There will be around 230 seats in the first batch. Around 20% seats will be reserved for the students of Haryana domicile.

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) :

• It is a group of fashion colleges in India. It was established in 1986 under the aegis of the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India and is an institution of design, management and technology for the international fashion business.
• NIFT was granted statutory status in 2006, empowering it to award degrees and other academic distinctions.
• The institute has a board of governors, under which its administration is headed by a director-general.
• NIFT currently has 16 campuses apart from Panchkula : Its main campus (headquarter and university head office ) in New Delhi, and campuses in Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Jodhpur, Kangra, Kannur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Patna, Raebareli, Shillong, and Srinagar. A new center in Ompora Industrial area, Kashmir is expected to come up.