Akshay
Located in close proximity to C’Not, Akshay is the multipurpose supermarket of the campus, housing a wide range of goods-from personal hygiene products, snacks, fruits, and vegetables to various sports equipment and some basic utensils. Typically, a long line of students queueing up to purchase mattresses, racks, and curtains is observed here during the first few days of the freshmen’s arrival. The store is open from 9 AM to 2 PM and 3:30 PM to 8:30 PM, barring the weekly holiday on Monday.
GymG
Standing for ‘Gym Grounds’, GymG is the sports hub of the campus. Students, as well as Pilani localites, can be found playing volleyball, basketball, football, cricket, tennis, or hockey in their respective areas regularly in the evenings. The grounds, however, are not only frequented by sports aficionados but by fitness enthusiasts as well, practising athletics or utilising the calisthenics equipment available. The grounds are open from 6 AM to 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM to 8 PM.
Information Processing Centre (IPC)
The university equivalent of a computer lab; IPC is located close to the CSIS department in NAB. Spanning room numbers 6114 to 6119, the labs are accessible from 9 AM to midnight, barring hourly breaks at 1 PM and 7 PM. All labs are fully air-conditioned and equipped with Wi-Fi. Eatables and using personal computers are strictly forbidden. Computer Programming (CP) and Engineering Graphics (EG) labs are held here for first-year students. IPC serves as a backup location for students to work on their projects or academics too.
Laundromat
Laundry options for students are limited to three: washing manually, engaging the services of a dhobi visiting one’s hostel, or signing up for the Laundromat facility. There are three laundromat centres on campus; at the entrances of Meera, Malviya, and C.V. Raman Bhawans. The laundry for Meera Bhawan residents is dropped off and picked up at the laundromat, owing to its closeness to the hostel. For all other first-year students, it is dropped off and picked up from the ground floor common rooms of their respective hostels. The laundry is typically returned within 2–3 days. One can purchase different packages — subject to whether ironing is required or not — of 4, 8, 10, or 15 cycles, each having a maximum load of 6kg. The expenses are deducted from the dues paid to the university; no in-hand payment is required.
Library
Located opposite the New Workshop, the fully packed Library is a spectacle to behold during peak exam season. It houses 2,48,000 books, including but not limited to Reference Books, Encyclopedias, Handbooks, and Journals. The Library has a seating capacity of 950 students and includes two air-conditioned halls. It contains snacks and Tea/Coffee vending machines as well as a Photocopy-cum-Stationery counter for one’s printing needs. The Library timings are generally 9 AM to 9 PM on weekdays, closing early at 5 PM on weekends, with regular revisions for examination periods.
Medical Centre (MedC)
Catering to the medical needs of the students, staff as well as faculty, is the singular Medical Centre on campus. Positioned to the left of Akshay, MedC is open around the clock on all days of the week. However, specialised doctors such as Physicians, Gynecologists, ENT Specialists, Paediatricians, Dentists, Medical Officers, and Ayurvedic doctors are present according to a pre-fixed schedule which must be consulted before a visit.
Student Activity Centre (SAC)
The cultural hub of the campus, buzzing with liveliness, especially around the weeks leading up to a fest, SAC houses 13.4 x 6.1 badminton courts, a pool table room, well-kept table tennis courts, as well as a squash court. Situated adjacent to Looters and Tott, SAC frequently serves as the heart of activity for art, dance, music, and sports enthusiasts alike. The indoor sports facilities can be accessed from 6 AM to 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM to 7 PM. Several clubs and departments often convene at their respective rooms allotted to them here, and the outdoor Amphitheatre is utilised usually during or after a fest. It also encloses the campus gymnasium, open from 6 AM to 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM.
S9
Often stumbled upon by first-year students en route to lab courses, S9, located at the entrance of FD-3, is a student’s go-to location for printing material for open-book exams. One can purchase stationery or avail of services such as printing, laminating, and photocopying any time from 9 AM to 8:30 PM.
ATMs
Although the usage of ATMs is declining amidst the growing popularity of cashless payment methods on campus, the established Automated Teller Machines are still found on campus. The UCO bank is accompanied by its own UCO ATM, and there is present an ICICI ATM to the right of Akshay, as well as an Axis Bank ATM in front of the Malviya Mess and the Malviya Laundromat.
UCO Bank
Located behind Vishwakarma Bhawan is the trifecta of the bank, the BSNL office, and the Post Office. It is operational from 10 AM to 4 PM on weekdays; students can avail of bank facilities such as opening and closing accounts, completing transactions, and withdrawing cash using the ATM.
Post Office
Nestled in a tree grove behind the Old Workshop building, the Post Office serves as a valuable utility for BITS students and Pilani folk alike. What looks like a typical Indian Post Office with glass windows encasing it from the outside is practically a warehouse for storing parcels and couriers on the inside. Facilities such as fixed deposits, savings accounts, recurring deposits, and more are available. Students can engage in sending parcels and speed post by interacting through the teller holes in the glass windows with the staff present from 9 AM to 1 PM and 1:30–4 PM. Postage stamps can also be obtained from 9 AM to 5 PM.
BSNL Office
The BSNL Customer Service Centre, also home to the office of the sub-divisional engineer, is located behind the Old Workshop. Operating from 10 AM to 5 PM on all days except Sundays, this service centre attends to any troubles regarding SIM cards, and fibre and broadband connections. As the only BSNL Customer Centre in Pilani, it sees more traffic from locals than BITS students.
Navigation
Kindly refer to the 3D map available on the English Press Club’s website for more information.
A short directory on where to find your destination in the internally interconnected faculty divisions, as well as the New Academic Block:
FD-1
- Dept. of Chemical Engineering and Dept. of Mechanical Engineering (first floor 1215 A-Q)
- Dept. of Civil Engineering (first floor 1212 A-J, 1211 A-F, 1210 A-H, 1209 A-H)
FD-2
- Dept. of Physics new rooms (first floor 2219 A-J)
- Dept. of Mechanical Engineering (first floor 222X series)
- Dept. of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (2210 A-U)
FD-3
- Dept. of Chemistry (first floor-central section 3268 A-V)
- Dept. of Pharmacy (ground floor- back section 3170 A-Y)
- Dept. of Physics old rooms (first floor right section 3263-3266, 324X)
- Dept. of Biology ( FD3 back building first floor 3277 A-Y, 327X series)
NAB
- Dept. of Mathematics (ground floor, 6067 series)
- Dept. of Computer Science Engineering (ground floor, opposite Dept. of Mathematics, 6169 series)
- Dept. of Humanities (first floor, above Dept. of Mathematics, 6121 series)
- Dept. of Manufacturing
Here is a little help to navigate on campus. All room numbers are 4-digit numbers.
The first digit of a room number corresponds to a particular building:
1- FD1
2- FD2
3- FD3
4- Old Workshop
5- LTC
6- NAB
7- New Workshop
The second digit is the floor that it is in,
1- Ground floor
2- First floor
For NAB Exclusively:
0- Ground floor
1- First floor
The last 2 digits are the room numbers.