IITs to receive interest-free loans worth Rs 2k Cr

To encourage research in higher education institutions, the government will provide interest-free loans worth Rs 2,000 crore to six institutions, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar announced on Wednesday.

Happy to inform that today the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) board would be approving Rs 2,000 crore interest-free loans for six institutions towards research, academic, and infra projects, the minister said in a tweet.

The six institutions are IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, and CSE, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal. While Rs 1,028.73 crore has been sanctioned for research and academic facilities, Rs 1,038 crore has been approved for other supporting infrastructure in five IITs and one NIT, says a report by India Today. Moreover, an institution can claim 10 times the sum it escrows in the first year.

The report further adds:

• In September 2016, the Union Cabinet had approved HEFA as a special purpose vehicle with Canara Bank. It would be jointly funded by the promoter/bank and HRD ministry
• As per the scheme, HEFA would mobilise Rs 20,000 crore through market borrowing and would release the money to government institutions as interest-free loans
• "Approved institutions can avail the sanctioned amount as per the progress of the project and complete them expeditiously. The funding under HEFA would be in addition to the grants already given to the institutions," the official added.

Also read: With 14 failures behind them, these IIT-Kanpur graduates hope to hit the sweet spot with ShareChat

The problem with govt’s monthly fellowship of Rs 70,000 for IIT and IISC researchers

23-year-old IIT Delhi alumnus Anu Meena is building a farm to business agritech startup

Three IIT Roorkee grads ditch placements, offer coaching assistance for government exams

With inputs from IANS.

Do you have an interesting story to share? Please write to us at [email protected]. To stay updated with more positive news, please connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.