Panaji, Jun 26 (IANS): Amid opposition to an upcoming IIT campus in North Goa's Guleli village from the local residents, state Industries Minister Vishwajit Rane on Friday said that the elite technology institute represented the biggest investment in Goa over the last 10 years.

"It is one of the highest investments over the last 10 years in Goa. Approximately Rs 3,200 crore spread over the period of four to five years. The commitment from IIT is to spend Rs 2,200 crore in Guleli village itself over the next two years," Rane told reporters, after residents of Guleli, located in the Sattari sub district in North Goa, staged a protest claiming that construction of the campus would destroy the biodiversity of the area.

Last month, the Goa government had formally transferred 10 lakh sq. mts land in and around Guleli village in North Goa for setting up IIT-Goa.

Ever since an IIT was allotted to Goa by the central government in 2014, the institute has been functioning from a temporary campus shared by the Goa Engineering College in Farmagudi village in South Goa.

Two sites previously identified by the state government, in Canacona and Sanguem sub districts, for setting up a permanent campus for the IIT were dropped in the face of protests from local residents and after pressure from the Opposition, which had alleged a land scam in shortlisting of sites for the technology institute.