Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) at Surat, Raichur, Agartala, Bhagalpur and Bhopal wre conferred the status of Institutes of National Importance by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.  This will facilitate the mentioned IIITs to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology (BTech) and Master of Technology (MTech) or PhD degree.

This was done under the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) Laws (Amendment) Bill 2020 in the cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister.

In an official statement issued by the Cabinet, it was announced that the Bill will declare the remaining 5 IIITs along with the existing 15 IIITs running under PPP mode as “Institutes of National Importance”, with powers to award degrees.  This will enable the IIITs to attract a larger number of students required to develop a strong research base in the country in the field of information technology.

The cabinet, in the same breath, also approved ex-post facto to 21 posts of Directors, one each in 20 IIITs (PPP) and one in IIITDM Kurnool (IIIT-CFTI) besides ex-post facto to 21 posts of registrars, one each in 20 IIITs (PPP) and one in IIITDM Kurnool (IIT-CFTI).