Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani laid the foundation stone for IIM-Visakhapatnam at Gambheeram village near here on Saturday in the presence of Union Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and others.

A bill on IIM would be introduced in Parliament in the Winter session, the Union Minister promised, speaking at a public meeting organised after the stone laying ceremony at Gambheeram village in Anandapuram mandal on the outskirts of the city.

Admissions to IIM-Visakhapatnam are open from the academic year 2015-16. The IIM-Bangalore is the mentor institution for the IIM-V.

The classes for the IIM-V would be conducted from temporary premises on the Andhra University campus till the infrastructure is established on the over 300 acre campus coming up on the city outskirts.

The IIM-V is the first of the Central premier institutions to be established in the State of Andhra Pradesh under the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act 2014. The foundation stones for other central institutions like IIT would also be laid within this academic year, Andhra Pradesh Minister for Education and HRD Ganta Srinivasa Rao said.

The institution would help enhance the entrepreneurial skills of the people of the state apart from helping them achieve heights in corporates, Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said. There are many from the State who are holding high positions in corporations across the world, he said pointing out that CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella was from the state.

The Chief Minister requested the Union HRD Minister to set up a task force to help the education of the state Government be in tandem with the Central policies and said that the State Government would welcome if the Centre takes up its pilot schemes in education in the State.