Rajasthan approves opening of 30 engineering colleges

The number of seats in technical education in the next academic session is expected to increase by 4,500.

Thirty new engineering colleges are expected to start functioning in Rajasthan by the start of the next academic session. With the opening of these institutes, the number of seats in technical education is expected to increase by 4,500.

"We would give permission to open 30 engineering colleges before the start of the new academic session in the state," said State Minister for Education Vasudev Devnani.

In August last year, the state government had given its approval for opening 18 new engineering colleges in the state.

Among these new players, 10 were in the private sector and they are set to open their educational institutes in Baran, Churu, Dholpur, Dungarpur, Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Pali, Sawai Madhopur, Sirohi and Tonk.

There are around 48 engineering colleges in the state, excluding the ones that were given permission in August, of which, around seven are in the government sector while about 41 are in the private sector, accounting for 16,000 engineering seats in the state.

These colleges that were give permission last year are expected to account for an increase of around 6,000 engineering seats in the state.

Besides opening of new colleges, several of the existing engineering colleges in Jaipur are also planning for an expansion in other parts of the state, sources added.

"In the coming time, Rajasthan would be a prominent IT destination of the country with an army of well-qualified engineers. The main reason for this is the increasing inclination of industries towards Rajasthan," an official of technical education department said.

The state government has also decided to open engineering colleges in all the districts of the state. In this regard, it has decided to provide 10 acres of land to an institution or persons who want to take the initiative in the 20 districts having no such college.

"We have made a special policy to give free land for the opening of engineering colleges in all the 20 districts of the state having no engineering college. After this, Rajasthan would be way ahead of the national average of 48 engineering seats in every one lakh population," the official said.