The Union Cabinet today approved setting up of  new National Institutes of Technology (NITs).  These new NITs will be established in Manipur; Meghalaya; Mizoram; Nagaland; Goa (which will also cater to UTs of Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Lakshdweep); Pudducherry (which will also cater to Andaman & Nicobar Islands); Sikkim; Delhi (which will also cater to Chandigarh) and Uttrakhand.

            The process for setting up of these  new NITs will start in 2009-10 with formation of their respective societies, constitution of their Board of Governors, appointment of Directors, etc.  The admissions in these new NITs will be made from the academic session 2010-11 and NITs will start classes either in campuses taken on lease or temporarily in mentor NITs.  Work for construction of campuses for these new NITs will also be initiated subject to the land being provided free of cost by the concerned States/UTs.  The process of setting up will be completed over a period of five year.

            The new NITs are being setup so as to cater to the needs of States/UTs which do not have NITs as of now.  This will meet a long standing demand of these States/UTs.  These Institutes will be covered under the National Institutes of Technology Act, 2007 making them institutions of national importance, which will ultimately help in addressing the aspirations of people especially of the North East region where 6 new NITs are to be established.  The new NITs will be able to provide high quality education to many of the bright students from these States/UTs, as 50% of the seats are to be filled from the eligible students from these States/UTs.  Many of the States/UTs where these new NITs are being opened, especially those in North East are lacking in national level technical institutions.  This will bring such States of North East in the main stream of the technical education.

            The new NITs will increase in output of high quality:

(i)       By producing engineering and science graduates in the short run and postgraduates and Ph.Ds in the long run;

(ii)     By providing teachers for Engineering and Science subjects at College/University level; and

(iii)    By developing Research & Development and Intellectual Property generation in Engineering and Science, in the long run.

The  new approved NITs are categprized under two Schemes, as follows:

(a)     Scheme “A” consisting of proposed NITs at Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Goa, which will also cater to UTs of Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep, Pudducherry, which will cater to Andaman & Nicobar Islands also and Sikkim; and

(b)     Scheme “B” consisting of approved NITs at Delhi (which will also cater to Chandigarh) and Uttrakahand.

Each of the NIT under scheme A will be established at a cost of Rs.250 crore while each of the NIT in scheme B will be set up at a cost of Rs.300 crore.  Total project cost is Rs.2600 crore.  During 11^th Plan the expenditure will be of the order of Rs.540 crore and for the year 2009-2010 expenditure will be of the order of Rs.50 crore.

Main beneficiaries will be the students from the States/UTs which at present do not have NITs as seats will be earmarked for such students in these NITs along with seats earmarked to be filled on all India merit basis.

Presently there are 20 National Institutes of Technology (NITs), located at Agartala, Allahabad, Bhopal, Calicut, Durgapur, Hamirpur, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Jamshedpur, Kurukshetra, Nagpur, Patna, Raipur, Rourkela, Silchar, Srinagar, Surat, Surathkal, Tiruchirapalli and Warangal.  Seventeen of these NITs were earlier known as regional Engineering Colleges (RECs).  These RECs were set up as joint and co-operative ventures of the Central and State Governments with an aim to meet the increased demand for technically qualified manpower.  In 2003, the Seventeen erstwhile Regional Engineering Colleges (RECs) were rechristened as National Institution of Technology (NITs) and taken over as fully funded institutes of the Central Government and granted deemed university status.  Subsequently, Bihar College of Engineering, Patna; Government Engineering College, Raipur; and Tripura Engineering College, Agartala, were also converted into NITs in 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively.  NITs are governed by National Institutes of Technology  Act, 2007 which came into force w.e.f. 15^th   August 2007.  The NIT Act 2007 declares these NITs as institutions of national importance.

50% of the seats in NITs at Under Graduate level are filled from the eligible students of the State where the NIT is located.  Remaining seats are filled on all India merit basis.  However, Students of States/UTs which are not having NITs have complained being at a disadvantage, though this Ministry if compensating such States/UTs by way of allocating supernumerary seats in NITs.  To address this problem, MHRD has proposed to set up new NITs, provision for which is available in the 11^th Five Year Plan, so as to cater to the needs of non-NIT States/UTs. 

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AKT/AD/SH/VK