IITs to Expand Globally in UK, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt Among Other Countries

New Delhi: For the global expansion of IITs at Indian Embassies abroad, the Central Government's committee has selected the UK, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Malaysia, and Thailand among other countries as prospective locations for offshore campuses.

As per the officials, the selection of 7 countries for expansion of IITs abroad was done on the basis of several key parameters, which include the level of interest and commitment, academic lineage, and conducive ecosystem to attract quality faculty and students.

Additionally, some of the major factors such as regulatory provisions and potential benefits to enhance India’s “branding and relation” were also taken into consideration while selecting countries for this IIT expansion project.

The selection was made after analyzing the feedback of heads of 26 Indian missions and discussing the proposal in virtual sessions with the embassy officials. The first virtual meeting was held on February 02, 2022, and the second was conducted on March 28, 2022.

As per Indian High Commission, the mission has obtained “six concrete proposals of cooperation from the University of Birmingham, King’s College London, University of Exeter, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and University College London".

The officials informed that "Our mission has made multiple requests for a meeting between the universities and the IIT committee. It has further requested for a detailed concept note and nodal contact point for taking forward this proposal".

As per the reports, IIT Delhi is the preferred choice for UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Malaysia. Once after the final approval, Egypt will release the arrangements in online mode from the session 2022-23 and accordingly, the campuses will be set up abroad.

The IITs campuses in other countries will be established to build the image of India abroad. The institute will offer admissions to international students and the seat intake of Indian students will be less than 25% in total on each campus.

“A certain minimum commitment of area for the campus is required from the local government while establishing the new institutes. These institutes should cater to the local student population (which could be the Indian diaspora)” the report said.

In addition to this, IIT Delhi is also considering establishing IITs in UAE’s Abu Dhabi in association with the Department of Education and Knowledge, while IIT Madras is also exploring campus options in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Tanzania.

As of now, the committee set up for this proposal has proposed a model under which a chain of IITs will be set up globally with the name " ‘Indian International Institute of Technology at (country name)’.

The committee is handled by the Directors of IIT Delhi, Madras, Kharagpur; ISM Dhanbad, Guwahati, Kanpur; Indian Institute of Science; NIT Surathkal ; and VCs of JNU, DU, University of Hyderabad, and BHU ; and, Dean (International Relations) IIT Bombay.

The report stated, “The new institutes could be called ‘Indian International Institute of Technology at (country name)’. The suggested name is sufficiently close to IIT with international added to emphasize/clarify that the institute is located outside India".

"The difference in the name (with sufficient similarity) will allow the newly established institutes to evolve their own identity and ethos while drawing upon the strength of the existing IITs" the report further added.

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