New Delhi (Face2News Bureau)

The Central Government has granted permission to private companies to set up technical institutions in the country. This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Dr. Shashi Tharoor. He said that the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has allowed a Private Limited or a Public Limited Company/Industry having a turnover of at least Rs. 100 crore per year for the previous 3 years to establish new technical institutions in Engineering & Technology, Pharmacy, Architecture & Town Planning and Hotel Management & Catering Technology (HMCT). The procedure for setting up these institutes shall be governed by the rules as mentioned in the Approval Process Handbook. In a reply to an another question regarding Fee Waiver Scheme in such institutes, the Minister added that the AICTE has a scheme of Tuition Fee Waiver (TFW) for the sons & daughters of parents having an annual income of less than Rs. 4.5 lakhs from all sources which is mandatory for all AICTE approved technical institutions offering a Bachelor programme, Diploma and Post Diploma programmes. A total of 5 % of sanctioned intake per course is supernumerary in nature and is available for these admissions. The tuition fee waiver scheme is also applicable to those institutions set up under Section 25 of the Companies Act and approved by the AICTE. Some of the States in which the Technical Institutions being set up under AICTE scheme are Andhra Pradesh, Gujrat, Haryana, Kerala, Maharastra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Dr. Shashi Tharoor in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.