Corporates in Gujarat are now finding another good investment avenue: Education.

Most of the big corporate houses based in Gujarat now have interests in the education sector, while some others have recently committed significant investments in setting up educational institutions in Gujarat.

Industry experts believe that considering the potential, in near future more companies will come with more commitments.

In September, the Ahmedabad-based diversified company Adani Group, which is into the business of edible oil, ports, infrastructure and gas, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Gujarat government for setting up a national-level port management institute with a cost of Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion).

The institute, which will be the first of its kind in Gujarat, is expected to start functioning in the next three years. There are 32 operational ports in Gujarat, the highest number in the country.

Adanis are reportedly looking for additional land close to its port in Mundra in Kutch district to set up the institute.

Karsanbhai Patel's detergent major Nirma Ltd, which is already into the education sector with a full-fledged university and a management school, has also announced its plans to set up a marine engineering institute with an initial investment of Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million).

In three years in a row -- 1995,1996 and 1997 -- Nirma set up Nirma Institute of Technology (NIT), Nirma Institute of Management (NIM) and Nirma Institute of Diploma Studies (NIDS).

Now all these three Institutes have been given the status of a university by the state government.

Karsanbhai, who runs these educational institutions under the Nirma Educational and Research Foundation (NERF), is now coming up with a pharmacy college which has recently been kicked off.

"I believe that the government should remain the major provider of education and such facilities. But the public funds are inadequate to cater to various levels of education in a state with such a big population. With corporates' entry into the education sector, people are now getting quality education and a better infrastructure," Anup Singh, director of NIM, said.

"The infrastructure and quality of education in any of the corporate-run institute are better than that in a government-run centre. I hope that in the near future more corporate will join this segment," Singh said.

However, Singh believes that it would be better if the corporates view imparting education as a work of charity.

This will help students and the corporates should be encouraged by the government to set up institutes, he said.

Reliance Industries Ltd, which runs an oil refinery in Jamnagar, the coastal town of Gujarat, also has a substantial investment in the education sector in the state.

The company runs Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DA-IICT) from a huge, lush green campus on the Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad Highway.

It has been learnt that RIL is going to set up another major technical education institution in Jamnagar with a substantial investment.

"For us, it is more of a charity work. Dhirubhai belonged to this land," said a Reliance official.

The Rs 1,100 crore (Rs 11 billion) pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila Healthcare Ltd is now running an English-medium school in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur area. The Zydus Cadila School for Excellence is operated under the aegis of Ramanbhai Patel Foundation.

It has plans to set up a management institute. Anil Products Ltd, the starch-maker, runs schools under the Egmont Foundation. The foundation is now expanding the number of its Eurokids Schools.

Core Emballage Ltd's Eklavya Foundation runs the Eklavya School in Ahmedabad, while promoters of the software company, E-Infochips, the Shaws, are running the Delhi Public School under Calorex Foundation.