Plan budget for higher education increased by Rs.2000 crore
	15:17 IST

The overall plan budget for higher education for 2009-10 is proposed to be increased by Rs. 2000 crore over the interim B.E. This was announced by the Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee while presenting the Budget in Parliament on 6th July, 2009. Towards taking forward the government’s intent of having one Central University in each uncovered state, the Finance Minister allocated Rs.827 crore in the Budget. He also allocated Rs.2,113 crore for IITs and NITs, which includes a provision of Rs. 450 crore for new IITs and NITs. Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) at Kharagpur, Bombay, Madras, Kanpur, Delhi, Guwahati and Roorkee have been established as ‘Institutions of National Importance under the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961. Their main objective is to impart world-class training in engineering and technology; to conduct research in the relevant fields and for advancement of learning and dissemination of knowledge. Looking to the demands of professionals in engineering sector, eight new Indian Institutes of Technology have been approved, six of which, namely, IITs at Hyderabad, Bhuvaneshwar, Gandhinagar, Patna and IITs for Rajasthan and Punjab have commenced their academic sessions from the year 2008-09. Remaining two IITs at Indore (Madhya Pradesh) and Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) are likely to commence the academic programmes from 2009-2010. * * * * * * * MV/Hb