Tripura to become first North-Eastern state to have an IIIT

, Jun 8:

would be the first state in the north-eastern region to have an Indian Institute of Information Technology (

), state government sources said on Saturday. "During my recent visit to New Delhi, Union Human Resource Development and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal informed that north-east's first IIIT would come up in Tripura”," state Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty said.

He said the central government has decided to set up 20 more IIITs in different parts of the country of which five would be set up in the first phase and Tripura figured among the preferred locations. Chakraborty said the IIIT would be set up in PPP model of which the central government would bear 57.5 per cent and the state government would bear 35 per cent. The rest would be born by any private entrepreneur with the total estimated cost pegged at around Rs 128 crore.

Currently, there are four IIITs in India, at Allahabad, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Kanchipuram, which are autonomous and impart undergraduate as well as postgraduate technical education.

PTI