Sibal lets corporates run engineering institutions, adds 200,000 seats

The government on Thursday permitted companies registered as non-profit entities to set up technical institutions and reduced the land requirement for non-rural areas to 2.5 acres from the existing 3.5 acres. In addition, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has allowed an increase in the number of seats by as much as 200,000.

As part of a review of norms for the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), minister of human resource development Kapil Sibal also announced additional 80,000 seats in management and 2,200 seats in architecture courses.

The ministry also liberalised land requirements for engineering colleges, allowing technical institutes to function in lesser space.

While an engineering college in rural India will need 10 acres of land, this will be reduced to just 2.5 acres of land in urban areas.

The revised guidelines of ministry invokes Section 25 of the Company's Act to allow good corporates set up technical institutions. However joint ventures are barred from this facility.

Section 25 (1) (a) and (b) of the Indian Companies Act allows a company to be established 'for promoting commerce, art, science, religion, charity or any other useful object', provided the profits, if any, or other income from such operation is applied for promoting only the objects of the company and no dividend is paid to its members.