Govt may allow IITs, IIMs to open campus abroad

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) indicated it may be open, down the line, to the idea of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) opening campuses in foreign countries.

This comes after the ministry had declined a proposal from IIM-Bangalore to open a campus in Singapore. MHRD had said the Memorandum of Association (MoA) of IIM-B does not empower the institute to open campuses abroad.

However, Union minister of state for education, D Purandeswari, left a door open on the issue in her reply to a query on the subject in the Rajya Sabha today.

“It may not be immediately feasible,” she said, “for the IITs and IIMs to open campuses abroad, as they are facing faculty shortages and have to undertake 54 per cent expansion in their intake to implement OBC quota. Setting of campuses abroad may further strain the IITs’ limited manpower and other resources. Also, various MoAs of the IIMs will need to be amended because these MOAs do not empower them to open campuses abroad.”

To another query on the Central University in Himachal Pradesh being a non-starter, Purandeswari told the House that the person appointed as the vice-chancellor has declined the offer and the process for selecting someone else had started.