IIT-Dharwad to get loans for building campus

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Dharwad will get funds in the form of soft loans from the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) for the construction of its permanent campus in Karnataka.

The project proposal of the institute worth over Rs 1,000 crore is set to be cleared for sanctioning of the loan at a meeting scheduled to be held on July 20, a senior official from ministry of Human Resource told DH.

Besides IIT Dharwad, project proposals of the new IITs in Bhilai, Jammu, Tirupati, Palakkad and the National Institute of Technology, Andhra Pradesh, will also be approved for the construction of their permanent campuses, the official said.

The HEFA loans to be sanctioned for these six technical institutes will together come up to Rs 5,691 crore.

Under the modalities approved by the Union Cabinet for the grant of soft loans to the higher education institutions on Wednesday, the HRD ministry will repay the principal amount and the interest on the loan.

The loans will be given to these institutions for the construction of their permanent campuses.

Project-wise loans

“From now on, all new infrastructure projects will be serviced through HEFA in education sector. Loans will be sanctioned project-wise with proper scrutiny of the proposals,” the official said.

The Union Cabinet, in October last year, approved allocation of Rs 7,002 crore for the construction of permanent campus of IIT-Dharwad and other new IITs.

“Previous Cabinet approvals for grant of funds will be channelised through HEFA,” the official said.

Addressing a press conference, meanwhile, HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said HEFA’s mandate as of now is to provide funds in the form of soft loans to centrally funded higher education institutions and schools.

He sought to dispel apprehensions that the higher education institutions taking loan from HEFA to create research and academic infrastructures would eventually end up increasing their tuition fee to repay the principal or part of the principal.

No increase in tuition fee

“There is no scope for institutions to increase their tuition fee. People who are disappointed and dejected come up with such issues just for the sake of raising objections without checking their facts. Modi government’s decision to set up HEFA is revolutionary. Such people should welcome it,” he said.

Technical institutes, which are more than 10 years old, can repay the principal of the loan as they generate high revenue through research, an official said.

“For example, the IIT Bombay generates Rs 50 crore to Rs 60 crore through patents every year. Other IITs also generate high revenue through research. They need not raise the tuition fee to repay the principal,” he added.