Modi government plans to set up new IITs with foreign help.

The Narendra Modi-led NDA government plans to establish five new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) announced in this year's budget with the assistance of foreign countries, just as the Congress did in the 1950s and '60s under then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's initiative.

The proposed IIT in Goa will come up in collaboration with well-known institutions in the United States, an official familiar with the matter said, adding that human resource development minister Smriti Irani will accompany Prime Minister Modi to America later this month to sign a joint declaration for this purpose.

The partner countries for the rest of the proposed premier engineering schools in J&K, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala will also be identified soon, the official added on condition of anonymity.

The IITs in Mumbai (then Bombay), Chennai (then Madras), Kanpur and Delhi were established in collaboration with the erstwhile USSR, then West Germany, USA and the UK respectively.


ET