Ropar (Punjab), Feb 24: Union Minister of Human Resource Development Arjun Singh will lay the foundation stone of the campus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ropar, in Punjab today.

This new IIT is part of the eight new IITs that have been established in the country by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development during XIth Plan.

The State Government has offered 513 acres of land at Ropar, which is about 40 km. from Chandigarh and has excellent road and railway connectivity. The academic session of IIT, Ropar, is already in progress from 2008-09 from its Mentor institution, which is IIT, Delhi. There are about 110 students in B. Tech. courses in 3 branches of engineering.

The Central Government in its Eleventh Plan has given a major thrust to education. The Central Government has taken several initiatives in respect of new institution building.

These include setting up of 30 new Central Universities, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, eight new IITs, seven new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), five new Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), two new Schools of Planning and Architecture (SPAs), 10 new National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and 20 new IIITs. A very high priority has been accorded to the education sector and a ten fold increase has been provided in the budgetary outlays for the higher education during the XIth Plan as compared to Xth Plan. (ANI)