Govt to set up eight new IITs, seven IIMs

On the 60th anniversary of Independence, Manmohan also announces setting up of 30 more Central varsities, reports Aloke Tikku. Special: India at 60

Laying the national focus firmly on education and agriculture, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said during his Independence Day address on Wednesday that the government would set up eight new Indian Institutes of Technology and seven new Indian Institutes of Management. There will also be five more Indian Institutes of Science and 20 Indian Institutes of Information Technology.

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He added that 30 more Central universities would come up soon, at least one in each state.

Singh announced from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 60th anniversary of Independence that the government would also support 6,000 new schools, one in each block, and states would be helped to set up colleges in 370 districts that have low enrolment levels.

On the rural front, the government will invest Rs 25,000 crore in agriculture and bring the entire country under the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) law, Singh said.