Indore, Feb 17: Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh will lay the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indore today.

State Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan will preside over the function.

With the opening of this institute, Indore will be the first city in the country to have both IIM and IIT.

The seven other new IITs have been set up in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat, Orissa (Bhubaneswar) and Himachal Pradesh.

An allocation of Rs. 2,000 crore has been provided in the XIth Plan and Rs. 50 crore has been allocated for 2008-09 for new IITs.

The Central Government has laid great emphasis on the advancement of higher education during the XIth Plan for which the outlays have been increased by ten times when compared to the Xth Plan outlays.

This higher allocation is being used for the creation of 30 Central Universities including 14 new National (World Class) universities; eight new IITs; seven new IIMs; five new Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs); 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs); two new Schools of Planning and Architecture; ten new NITs, Central assistance for establishing 1000 new polytechnics, including through PPP mode, and strengthening of 500 existing polytechnics. (ANI)