Karnataka’s dream of having an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in the State has been dashed. Karnataka does not figure in the list of five States that will have IITs as stated in the Union Budget.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his budget speech on Thursday, said IITs would be established in Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Also announced was that five Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) would be set up in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra, at a total cost of Rs. 500 crore. Apart from this, four more ‘All India Institute of Medical Sciences-like’ institutions are being set up at Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh at a cost of Rs. 500 crore. Minister for Higher Education R.V. Deshpande had, in June, written to Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani asking for an IIT in Karnataka following the Centre’s promise to establish other IITs. Offering land free of cost, Mr. Deshpande had said 15 States in India, including almost all southern States, except Karnataka, already have IITs. Karnataka’s meritorious students had to perforce migrate to other States to attend IIT.