J N Tata Technical Education Center, Gopalpur organized its first Convocation ceremony for its students today at Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF) Bangalore. The convocation witnessed around 121 boys and girls from Orissa passing out the first batch of the institute in 2008. Out of the total strength, 52 belong to the project affected families of Tata Steel Gopalpur project. Promod Kumar Padhy and Siva Kumar Ramoji stood first in Mechatronics and Manufacturing Technology diploma respectively. J N Tata Technical Education Center, run by NTTF, provides 3-year diploma course in Electronics, Mechatronics and Manufacturing Technology.

Mr. Rajesh Chintak, Chief Resident Executive (Orissa), said at the convocation ceremony, "I am extremely glad that 121 students have passed out the first batch of the institute and the Convocation program has taken place. It gives me immense pride and pleasure in saying that we have achieved 100% placements with the best of the Corporates in the country picking up our students. We at J N Tata Technical Education Center are always striving to impart best vocational training to our students & improve the employment opportunities for them. This pool of technically qualified youth will also help the state to attract industrial investments. "

He further added that "Tata Steel will continuously strive to bring economic development to the state of Orissa by bringing in education, health care, livelihoods and rural infrastructure."

Mr. Ramachandran, Principal of the Institute, said, "The students of the institute have made me proud and have excelled in their academic performance. Many of the students of the Institute have secured good position in all India basis."

The students of the institute have expressed their heartfelt gratitude to Tata Steel and NTTF for having created this excellent facility in the state and helping them to get ahead in their lives.

The centre was put up by Tata Steel in 2005 to promote quality technical education in Orissa for improving employability of the youth of Orissa. Tata Steel has invested more than Rs 28 crores for setting up the infrastructure of J N Tata Technical Education Center. The institute has been set-up over an area of 20 acres having a built space of more than 50,000 sqft. The Company is now building a hostel for the students at an investment of about Rs. 7 Crores.

The company has entrusted the management of the institute to Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF), a reputed name in the field of technical education. All the students of the first batch have received employment offers in various national and international companies such as Siemens, L&T, Robert Bosch, Maruti Suzuki, Punj Lyod, AMW, Soma Enterprise, OCL, JSW, Transocean Infrastructure, Al-Shirwai (Dubai), etc.

The company has also lend support to premier institutions in Orissa like XIMB, Pathani Samanta Planetarium, Nabakrushna Choudhry Center for Development Studies, Science block at Sukinda College and Joda Women's College amongst others. The most recent major initiative is constructing the Institute of Advanced Mathematics and Applications at Bhubaneswar.