Infra of 5 IITs including Jammu to be enhanced
NEW DELHI, May 7: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday hailed the Indian Armed Forces for carrying out targeted strikes at terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir.
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The Prime Minister chaired a meeting of the Union Cabinet, hours after ‘Operation Sindoor’ was launched to destroy terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir.
Soon after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh informed the Cabinet about Operation Sindoor, the entire Cabinet hailed the action and the Prime Minister’s leadership with thumping of desks.
Modi is also learnt to have said that his Government will have zero tolerance towards terror.
The Prime Minister also separately met the Defence Minister and NSA Ajit Doval and took stock of the evolving situation, sources said.
The Union Cabinet also approved expansion of academic and infrastructure capacity of five new IITs which were set up in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir and Karnataka.
The total cost for the proposed expansion has been pegged at Rs 11,828.79 crore over a period of four years from 2025-26 to 2028-29, an official statement said.
The Cabinet also approved creation of 130 faculty posts at the level of Professor in these IlTs.
Five new state-of-art research parks are also coming up to strengthen industry-academia linkage, the statement said.
These IITs are located in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, Palakkad in Kerala, Bhilai in Chhattisgarh, Jammu in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, Dharwad in Karnataka.
“Student strength in these IITs will be increased by more than 6,500 in the next four years with enhancement of 1,364 students in first year, 1,738 students in second year, 1,767 students in third year and 1,707 students in fourth year across Under Graduate (UG), Post Graduate (PG) and PhD programmes put together,” the statement said.
“On completion of construction, these five IITs shall be able to cater 13,687 students as against current student strength of 7,111 i.e. an increase of 6,576 students. With this increase in the total number of seats, additional more than 6,500 students will now be able to fulfil their aspirations of studying in the most prestigious and sought-after educational institutions in the country,” it added.
With this increase in the total number of seats, additional more than 6,500 students will now be able to fulfil their aspirations of studying in the most prestigious and sought-after educational institutions in the country.
“This will foster nation-building by creating a skilled workforce, driving innovation, and boosting economic growth. It enhances social mobility, reduces educational inequality, and strengthens India’s global position.”
Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the revised Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India (SHAKTI) for allocation of coal to the power sector to help them meet long-term and short-term coal requirement.
The CCEA “has approved grant of fresh coal linkages to thermal power plants of central sector/state sector/independent power producers (IPPs),” the Coal Ministry said in a statement.
With the introduction of Revised SHAKTI (Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India) Policy, two windows —coal linkage to central gencos/states at notified price and coal linkage to all gencos at a premium above notified price — have been proposed.
The Ministry further, said ‘under coal at notified price’ segment the existing mechanism for grant of coal linkage to central sector thermal power projects (TPPs) including joint ventures (JVs) and their subsidiary will continue.
Moreover, coal linkage earmarked to States may be utilized by States in its own genco, Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to be identified through Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) or existing IPPs having Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for setting up of a new expansion unit under ‘coal at notified price’ window.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Droupadi Murmu and briefed her on Indian Armed Forces’ precision strikes at terrorist hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK).
“Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan and briefed her about Operation Sindoor,” the President’s office said in a post on X and shared pictures of the meeting. (PTI)
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