By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, MAR 16, 2017: THE Union Cabinet has approved -

i. Introduction of the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Public Private Partnership (IIIT PPP) Bill, 2017;

ii. To grant statutory status to the 15 Indian Institutes of Information Technology in Public Private Partnership and declare them as Institutions of National Importance;

iii. To enable these institutions to grant degrees to their students in the academic courses conducted by them.

There is no financial implication with regard to the proposed IIIT PPP Bill, 2017

The Bill will declare the existing Indian Institutes of Information Technology in Public Private Partnership as 'Institutions of National Importance with powers to award degrees. This will entitle them to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) or Master of Technology (M.Tech) or Ph.D degree as issued by a University or Institution of National Importance.

The grant of a formal degree in Information Technology, Engineering or Ph.D will enhance the prospects of the graduating students in the job market and will also enable the Institutes to attract enough students required to develop a strong research base in the country in the field of information technology.

The emerging needs of the industry and the economy, as a whole for skilled technical manpower is expected to be met from the talent pool of trained personnel of the institutes.

Every Institute shall be open to all - irrespective of gender, caste, creed, disability, and domicile, and ethnicity, social or economic background. Academic Session has commenced in the following15 Institutes:-

Andhra Pradesh (Chittoor), Assam (Guwahati) Gujarat (Vadodara), Haryana (Sonipat), Himachal Pradesh (Una), Jharkhand(Ranchi), Karnataka (Dharwad), Kerala (Kottayam) Maharashtra (Nagpur & Pune), Manipur (Senapati), Rajasthan (Kota), Tamilnadu (Tiruchirappalli), Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow), Kalyani (West Bengal).

The Scheme of Setting up of 20 new IIITs in Public Private Partnership (IIIT PPP) as approved by the Union Cabinet on 7.12.2010 does not have provision which empowers the Institutes set up in Public Private Partnership to grant degrees to its students. The first batch of under-graduate students enrolled in the Year 2013-14 will be passing out in the Year 2017. Academic Session has started in 15 IIITs.