IITs have competition, govt to set up IIESTs

India?s Top education brand ? the IITs ? may soon face competition. Not from the private sector, but from the government. The Ministry of HRD has conceptualised institutes which will offer science and technology courses.

India’s Top education brand — the IITs — may soon face competition. Not from the private sector, but from the government. The Ministry of HRD has conceptualised institutes which will offer science and technology courses.

Christened — Indian Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology (IIEST) — the institutes will have a wider scope than the IITs.  To be run on similar lines as the IITs, the IIESTs will be constituted as institutes of national importance through an Act of Parliament. 

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SMART BOX

Another top brand • HRD ministry to set up IIESTs. They will be institutes of national importance  • They will be run like the IITs. Students will have to appear in an All-India test • Govt shortlists 5 institutes for setting up IIESTs

Again, like the IITs, admission to new institutes will be on All-India basis. This line of thinking, sources say, is linked with the reservation policy of the government.

Five institutes have been identified for IIESTs — Bengal Engineering and Science University, Institute of Technology, BHU, Cochin University of Science and Technology, College of Engineering and Osmania University College of Engineering and University College of Technology.