The Bill grants statutory status to five Indian Institutes of Information Technology in Public-Private Partnership mode at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur and declare them as Institutions of National Importance along with the existing 15 Indian Institutes of Information Technology under the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017.

 

The Bill, once it gets parliamentary approval, will amend the principal Acts of 2014 and 2017 to enable these IIITs to use the nomenclature of Bachelor's in Technology (B.Tech) or Master's in Technology (M.Tech) or Ph.D degree as issued by a university or Institution of National Importance.

 

It will enable the institutes to attract enough students required to develop a strong research base in the country in the field of information technology, the statement said. 

 

The five IIITs at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur are already functioning as societies registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860.

 

After changes in the existing laws, these institutions will be covered under the IIIT (PPP) Act, 2017, similar to 15 others established under the scheme in the PPP mode. 

 

Further, the Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing at Kurnool has been established as per the IIIT Act, 2014, and is functioning with other four IIITs, namely IIIT-Allahabad, IIITM-Gwalior, IIITDM-Jabalpur and IIITDM- Kancheepuram.

 

The Bill will also formalise the posts of Director and Registrar already existing in these IIITs, without additional financial outgo.

 

The IIITs are envisaged to promote higher education and research in the field of Information Technology.

 

The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Act of 2014 and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017 are unique initiatives of the government of India to impart knowledge in the field of Information Technology to provide solutions to the challenges faced by the country.