New IITs

Admission to as many as 6 new IITs - Gandhinagar, Punjab, Patna, Rajasthan, Bhubaneshwar and Hyderabad - are scheduled to take place from this year. This has, undoubtedly, given rise to speculations over what kind of success would these institutes be able to garner. This has also risen hopes of students seeking admission to the premier institute of India to get the brand 'IIT' inspite of having a lower rank.

Here is a transcript of what IIT Kharagpur has given over the issue.

Admission to New IITs:

The Government of India has announced setting up of 8 more new IITs in the 11th plan. Admissions in the following six new IITs, subjected to the approval@ of the competent authority of the Govt. of India, is likely to take place during the counselling session of JEE 2008. To begin with, each new IIT will admit students in the B Tech programmes in three branches only and the corresponding course codes for filling choice sheet is given in the table below. The academic programmes at these new IITs will commence in July/August 2008. The curriculum and syllabus as well as the fee structure and other rules for the new IITs will be broadly same as that of the respective mentor IITs.

S. No New IIT Mentor IIT Courses offered* (course code)

1 IIT Gandhinagar IIT Bombay Chemical Engineering (N07), Electrical Engineering (N11), Mechanical Engineering (N24)

2 IIT Punjab IIT Delhi Computer Science and Engineering (U10), Electrical Engineering (U11), Mechanical Engineering (U24)

3 IIT Patna IIT Guwahati Computer Science and Engineering (P10), Electrical Engineering (P11), Mechanical Engineering (P24)

4 IIT Rajasthan IIT Kanpur Computer Science and Engineering (J10), Electrical Engineering (J11), Mechanical Engineering (J24)

5 IIT Bhuvaneswar IIT Kharagpur Civil Engineering (E09), Electrical Engineering (E11), Mechanical Engineering (E24)

6 IIT Hyderabad IIT Madras Computer Science and Engineering (H10), Electrical Engineering(H11), Mechanical Engineering (H24)

*40 seats [20+11+6+3;(1)] are available in each course.
@ If for any unforeseen reason the start of any new IIT is delayed, admission to that IIT will not be taken up during counseling session of JEE 2008.

The first year classes for IIT Punjab, IIT Rajasthan and IIT Bhuvaneswar will be conducted at the campuses of the respective mentor IITs. In the second year, the students from the above three IITs will be shifted to their respective locations. Classes for other new IITs will be conducted in the cities where the new IITs are located.



IIT Patna

IIT Patna’s campus will be on the outskirts of Patna in a 600 acre campus. Classes will start in 2008 from a temporary campus in Navin Govt. Polytechnic, Patliputra Nagar, a posh area of Patna. The campus will have 45000 sq ft of space. Two hostels to house boys and girls are also available next to the academic area. Faculty from IIT Guwahati will take the classes. It is expected that all operations will shift to the main campus by July 2010.

IIT Rajasthan

The location of the new IIT in Rajasthan will be announced by the Government of India. In the meantime, IIT Kanpur would be acting as the mentor institute of IIT Rajasthan.. Till the required infrastructure comes up, the classes will be held at the IIT Kanpur campus, after which the students will be relocated to the place in Rajasthan where the new IIT gets established. The students taking admission to the new IIT Rajasthan, along with their parents, will be required to give an undertaking to this effect.
For the benefit of the aspiring applicants, further details of the academic programs and other procedures on IIT Rajasthan will be made available on the website of IIT Kanpur (www.iitk.ac.in/iitj) very soon. In the meantime, any queries can be made by sending e-mail to: iitj@iitk.ac.in or by calling at: (+91)-512-259-6244 (Tele-Fax).



IIT Gandhinagar

IIT Gandhinagar, in Gujarat, is one of the new IITs proposed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. Gujarat is known for excellent infrastructure with thriving industries, prestigious academic and research institutes and an ambience which encourages entrepreneurship. IIT Bombay has been identified as the mentoring institution for the IIT in Gujarat. Till the campus of the new IIT in Gujarat gets established, the classes will be held within the premises of Vishwakarma Government Engineering College, Chandkheda, which is within the municipal limits of Gandhinagar. Students will be provided with residential and other facilities at a temporary location. The curriculum will be similar to that of IIT Bombay with some differences until the time the academic bodies of the new IIT is in place. Fee structure will be same as that of the mentoring Institute

IIT Bhuvaneswar

IIT Bhuvaneswar is one amongst the new IITs proposed by Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India. Its location will be intimated in due course and the academic programme will start from 24 July 2008 in the IIT Kharagpur campus. After completion of first year in IIT Kharagpur, the students will be shifted to new location where IIT Bhuvaneswar will be established. The first year fee structure will be same as that of IIT Kharagpur.

IIT Punjab

IIT Punjab is one of the new IITs proposed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India. Its location will be known in due course of time and the academic session 2008-2009 will start on July 23, 2008. The curriculum, course structure and syllabus for the first year courses will be broadly as per that at IIT Delhi. The first year fee structure will also be same as that at IIT Delhi. Classes will initially start at IIT Delhi campus, and subsequently the students will be relocated to its new location as soon as IIT Punjab is established. The students will have to move to the new place and they will not be accommodated at IIT Delhi campus; an undertaking to this effect will have to be given at the time of joining.

We've received a number of doubts regarding whether admission to these new institutes would be a good option. See, the new IITs would definitely help you get the 'IIT' brand. And, it could be put to good effect also, particularly when one is applying to foreign universities abroad for further studies. But still, I would personally not recommend anyone to take one of these IITs unless you are really crazy about the brand name and are not getting anything in one of the well-established IITs. The major reason is quite evident - the missing infrastructure, the missing campus-life, the missing faculty. Everything which should be the foremost criteria for an institute to be an IIT, everything which actually makes an IIT what it is, is missing in these IITs....atleast for now. And the future does not promise too well a scene. It remains to be seen how the government manages to pull faculty for these new institutes when the previous IITs are already short.

Also, believe me, campus life is one of the most important facets to college. Apart from academics, you could improve in other fronts only through a lively campus which would certainly be missing in the new IITs. Then, again, it won't be possible to build sufficient (leave aside 'good') infrastructure in the short time they plan to.

Over all, I don't feel it worthwhile to go into one of the new IITs particularly if one is getting a branch of his preference in one of the established colleges.

Anyway, Here are few links which would help you:

1. Click to read the above transcript in IIT Kharagpur's website
2. Click here to download the last year's opening and closing ranks through IITJEE
3. Click here to download the counseling brochure

Do let us know what you think on the issue of new IITs. Also, any shred of doubt in your mind, jot it down here and we would answer it to the best of our capability.

till then
cheerz :)