Six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will be set up in places like Jammu and Tirupati as President Pranab Mukherjee gave his nod to a law in this regard. As per the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 2016, which got Mukherjee's assent on Tuesday, IITs will also be started in Palakkad (Kerala), Goa, Dharward (Karnataka) and Bhilai (Chhattisgarh).
The law has also brought the Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad under its ambit. The ISM will now be called Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, the legislation said. All these institutions will be institutions of national importance, as per the Act.
The Lok Sabha had on July 25 passed the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill. It got Rajya Sabha approval on August 2. The President has also given his assent to a law for establishment of a National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Andhra Pradesh. The institute will act as an institution of national importance, as per National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (Amendment) Act, 2016, which has been notified by the Centre.