IITs abroad may be called 'Indian International Institutes of Technology'

New Delhi: The offshore campuses of IITs may be named as "India International Institute of Technology" and faculty members from the prestigious technology institutes here may be sent on deputation abroad, according to sources.

While the IITs abroad may be free to decide the student strength, the percentage of Indian students in those institutes will have to be less than 20 per cent, they said.

"A committee set up by the Centre for the global expansion of IITs has submitted its recommendations. It has been suggested that the ownership of starting an IIT abroad should rest with the particular higher educational institute (HEI). The new institutes could be called 'Indian International Institute of Technology at xxxx (location)," sources said.

"There should be a provision to depute faculty from an existing IIT to an institute abroad. This is particularly important in formative years of the new institute as it may gain substantially from experience of the faculty here," the sources added.

Several IITs have been receiving requests from the Middle East and South Asian countries to set up their campuses. While IIT Delhi is considering setting up a campus in UAE, IIT Madras is exploring options in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Tanzania. This is the second time that IIT Delhi is trying to expand overseas. It had earlier attempted to set up an "International Institute of Technology Research Academy" in Mauritius and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mauritius Research Council. But in 2014, objections were raised by the then Human Resources Development Minister Smriti Irani and the project was shelved.

The Centre had earlier this year set up a 17-member committee headed by IIT Council standing committee chairperson Dr K Radhakrishnan. The panel has recommended creating a generic system like IIT, NIT or IISER, under which a series of institutes can be established as the current IIT Act does not provision for setting up an IIT outside the country.