The government is finding it difficult to find takers for the establishment of 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) in public private partnership model in the country. Despite repeated reminders, the Union human resources development ministry has so far received a positive response from only two states, Bihar and Kerala, regarding the proposal. Official sources stated that only Bihar and Kerala have expressed their desire to establish one of these premier institutes in their states. “We are awaiting response from other states,” sources added.
This paper had on December 8 last year reported that the Union Cabinet had approved the setting up of 20 new IIITs with a PPP model. The Cabinet has approved an outlay of `2808.71 crore for the proposal. Each IIIT will cost `128.00 crore and a contribution ratio of 50: 35: 15 by the Central government, the state government and the industry have been fixed respectively. Apart from sharing the funding of these institutes the state government are also expected to provide 50-100 acres of land, free of cost.
The government proposes to establish 20 new IIITs in a phased manner between 2011-12 and 2019-20. Sources stated that during the first four years of setting up each IIIT, the Central Government will provide partial support towards the recurring expenditure upto Rs 10 crore to each IIIT.