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Centre okays State�s proposal for IIIT

By Spl CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI, July 7 � In an encouraging development that is likely to boost IT sector in the State, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has cleared a proposal submitted by Assam for setting up an Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT). The institute is being set up in PPP mode.

The proposals of Assam, Tripura and Rajasthan for setting of IIITs in the PPP mode have been approved by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The IIITs may, initially be registered as societies under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and subsequently would come under the umbrella of a Central legislation, official sources announced.

To address the challenges faced by the Indian IT industry and growth of the domestic IT market, the Ministry of Human Resource Development intends to establish 20 IIITs, on a Not-for-profit Public Private Partnership (N-PPP).

So far 17 State Governments have identified land, while 11 State Governments have identified land and are in the process of identifying the industry partners, sources said.

In the case of the North-eastern States, the Centre has relaxed the norms. The industry participation for capital expenditure has been kept at 7.5 per cent and Central Government participation at 57.50 per cent, while State Governments� contribution is pegged at 35 per cent. The State Government will also provide 50-100 acres of land, free of cost, it has been stipulated.

For rest of the country, the capital cost of each IIIT is Rs 128 crore to be contributed in the ratio of 50:35:15 by the Central Government, the State Government and the industry respectively.

The partners in setting up the IIITs would be the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Governments of the respective States and the industry.

The project is targeted to be completed in a phased manner. Each IIIT will meet its entire operating expenditure on its own within five years of commencement out of students� fees, research and other internal accruals. The scheme also provides for faculty development programme for which a sum of Rs 50 crore has been earmarked.

The major objective in establishing IIITs is to set up a model of education, which can produce best-in-class human resources in IT and harness the multidimensional facets of IT in various domains. These institutions are conceived as self-sustaining, research-led institutions contributing significantly to the global competitiveness of key sectors of the Indian economy and industry with application of IT in selected domain areas, said sources.

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