Pak out of IIT list for entrance test; exams to take place in Saarc nations
New Delhi: The prestigious IITs, which will for the first time hold entrance tests abroad including in Saarc nations, will exclude Pakistan for the forthcoming year.
While preparations are underway for conducting entrance tests in Singapore, the UAE and Saarc countries, for undergraduate and postgraduate courses, Pakistan will not figure in the list.
This newspaper had in February this year first reported that the prestigious IITs are likely to hold their entrance tests in several foreign nations from 2017 to select foreign students for undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
“Considering various factors, especially difficulties involved with regard to students procuring visas, it has been decided that entrance tests for IITs may not be conducted in Pakistan for the upcoming year,” sources said.
Officials said seats for foreign nationals would be additional in nature and would not reduce those available to Indians at these institutes. The decision was taken after consultations between officials of Union human resource development and external affairs ministries, sources added.
“The entrance tests to the IITs abroad have been held till now only to admit Indian nationals. This is for the first time that it has been planned to admit foreign students through tests held abroad. It is aimed that the plan would be operationalised from the JEE/GATE exams to be conducted in 2017,” sources said.
Students will be selected through a common entrance exam which would be administered by the IIT with the help of Indian missions in these countries.
The fee applicable in the case of foreign students will also be more as the subsidised fee which Indians pay would not be applicable to them.
Meanwhile, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved revised cost estimates for eight New IITs at Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Indore, Jodhpur, Mandi, Patna & Ropar.
Estimates are Rs 13,990 crore for 8 new IITs over 11 years from 2008-09 to 2018-19. Original project cost was Rs 6,080 crore. Student strength in each IIT at end of project is scheduled to be 2360. Total student capacity is expected to be 12880 by end of 11th year i.e 2019.
