Director of IIT Madras Prof. V. Kamakoti today said that opening up the first IIT international campus in Zanzibar, Tanzania is a major milestone in the history of the institute. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi he said that through this, IIT Madras is looking forward to active participation in the future higher education initiatives at Zanzibar. He said that setting up the first IIT international campus in Tanzania is a defining moment between the two countries in terms of strategic partnership and the education sector. He informed that the first academic year of 2023-24 has commenced and the classes are scheduled to start from October 2023.

Over the campus, Mr Kamakoti said that the permanent campus will be coming up by 2026 and for this Tanzania government has already allotted 300 acres of land. Recently, India and Tanzania have signed MoU for setting up the campus of IIT Madras in Zanzibar.

The agreement was inked in the presence of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Zanzibar's President Hussein Ali Mwinyi during his recent visit to Tanzania.