Though it taught science, mathematics and logic, ancient Nalanda's pre-eminence in Buddhist studies has got the governments of Japan, China and Singapore interested in the project. "The university would not belong to Bihar, it would belong to the world," Dr Madan Jha, Bihar's principal secretary (education), told Sunday HT.

Among the seven schools planned in the five-year first phase - at the end of which it would have 4,530 students and 453 faculty members would be those that offer integrated postgraduate and research programmes in information technology, bioinformatics, developmental studies, and applied sciences.

The Department of Natural Resource Management will supply agricultural technology to 300 villages around the 500 acres bought by the state for the project.

President A.EJ. Abdul Kalam played guardian angel when, 16 months ago, he listed Nalanda's reconstruction as one of Bihar's 10 priorities.

Looking Back

• Nalanda University, 55 miles southeast of Patna, was an ancient seat of Buddhist learning, set up around 450 AD
  
• It was one of the world's first residential universities, accommodating 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers in its heyday
  
• It was destroyed in 1193 by invaders led by Bakhtiar Khilji