New Delhi: In a bid to advancing corporate governance excellence and sustainable development in the northeast, the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) on Tuesday announced to establish its first regional campus in the region. 

IICA, under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, formally acquired a five-acre land parcel in New Shillong Township, Meghalaya, for its first-ever regional campus.

Backed by a Rs 100.95 crore investment under the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North-East (PM-DevINE), the Shillong campus will operate as a regional hub for specialised training, research, and policy advisory across key domains.

Donald Phillips Wahlang, Chief Secretary, Meghalaya government, expressed the state’s commitment to knowledge-led growth and highlighted the strategic location of the IICA campus within the Knowledge City cluster.

The area already houses esteemed institutions like IIM Shillong, National Law University Meghalaya, and NIFT — promising rich academic and professional synergy.

He also informed that a new airport is soon to be developed in Shillong, which will significantly enhance regional connectivity and make the campus easily accessible to professionals, faculty, and students from across India.

This infrastructural development will further reinforce Shillong's emerging status as a major academic and policy hub in the northeast, according to a Ministry of Corporate Affairs statement.

Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh, DG and CEO, IICA, hailed the moment as historic, describing the Shillong campus as “our first baby outside Delhi — a symbol of decentralisation and empowerment.”

He emphasised the role of the new campus in supporting entrepreneurship, capacity building, and good governance in alignment with national priorities such as ease of doing business, Atmanirbhar Bharat and Vikshit Bharat at 2047.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision during the Rising Northeast initiatives, Singh noted that the Prime Minister has consistently championed the northeast as the “Ashtalakshmi of India” — a region rich in diversity, talent, and potential.

Aligning with this vision, he said, “IICA is proud to be part of the transformation of the region from a remote periphery to a dynamic growth engine of New India.”

Deepti Gaur Mukerjee, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, said this partnership reflects the spirit of cooperative federalism and the Centre’s vision of empowering the northeast as a growth engine. (IANS)