Govt extends deadline for fund release to IITs, IISc

The deadline under the Institution of Eminence scheme has been extended by two years till March 2025 so far. 

To make up for the delayed disbursement, the deadline for funds release to two Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) under the Institution of Eminence scheme has been extended by two years till March 2025 so far, education ministry officials have said. 

As per a report published in The Telegraph, under the scheme, 10 public-funded and 10 private institutions are to get the Eminence tag, with the government providing up to INR 1,000 crore to the public institutions and relaxing for all 20 the University Grants Commission’s norms on fees, course design, faculty hiring and the admission of foreign students. The money was to be released in instalments over five years from the financial year during which the particular institution was granted the Eminence status. 

IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi first to be selected for IoE tag 

IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi and IISc Bangalore were among the first batch of six institutions selected for the tag in 2018. Another 14 institutions, including IIT Kharagpur, were selected the next year and their funds release deadline expires in March 24. None of the institutes have received even half the promised sum. 

IIT Delhi has so far received INR 490.9 crore followed by the IISc (INR 450 crore), IIT Bombay (INR 429.94 crore), IIT Madras (INR 378 crore), BHU (INR 287 crore), IIT Kharagpur (INR 223.13 crore, Hyderabad University (INR 175.755 crore) and DU (INR 91.685 crore). “The government has decided to extend the deadline for funds release till March 2025. IIT Delhi has received a formal communication while letters to IIT Bombay and the IISc are being prepared,” an education ministry official said. 

Why delay in fund release? 

The funds release has been delayed because the finance ministry had demurred after the education ministry asked the institutes to take loans from the Higher Education Funding Agency for infrastructure projects and later repay them using the Eminence scheme grants. Finally, it was decided to give the entire funds as normal grants. This bureaucratic process took almost two years, enabling the two IITs and the IISc to start awarding infrastructure contracts only in 2021. 

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