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Priyanka Vyas

Involves an expenditure of Rs 3,000 cr; in talks with industry

New Delhi , Sept. 16

With a severe manpower crunch in the IT sector, the Government is proposing to set up about 30 Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) over the next few years, which could involve an expenditure of around Rs 3,000 crore.

In a run-up to the Eleventh Plan, the Ministry of Human Resources Development has sent a proposal to the Planning Commission for setting up the IIITs across different States on a public-private partnership basis. They will be on the same lines as the three existing IIITs in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Allahabad.

Confirming the development, Planning Commission sources said, "The Commission is looking into the matter on the number of institutions to set up and the faculty that will be required for it. However, the IIITs will not be allocated State-wise. Some small States may not have the capacity to sustain such institutions, whereas States such as Maharashtra, Karnataka and some others would have more demand and we may consider setting up even two IIITs in some."

Business opportunity

Industry sources confirmed that the Government was in serious talks with them on the IIIT proposal. The Confederation of Indian Industries Chief Information Officer, Mr Vikram Tiwathia, said, "There is a huge demand for IT professionals from across all the industries. This also brings a huge business opportunity for educational institutes to train such a workforce."

The IT sector also expressed its concern over the inadequate workforce in the face of rising demand. "IT professionals with skills in areas such as infrastructure and network services, security, design and others are required. There is no doubt about the need to establish such institutes.

The IIITs in Hyderabad and Bangalore have set a benchmark in terms of the demand for professionals from these institutes. They also need to create more Ph.Ds in computer science or engineering, currently offered only by the IITs and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore" said Mr P. Rajendran, Chief Operating Officer, NIIT.

Bangalore model

The public-private partnership basis on which IIIT Bangalore is functioning at present could be the model that the proposed institutes would follow. At present the Bangalore institute has Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy of Infosys as Chairman, while the other members include the Director of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, Prof Ken Keniston of MIT, the Nasscom President and several CEOs of companies such as Intel India, Microsoft India, and HP India.

According to a Nasscom estimate, there are a total of one million people employed in the IT/ITES sector today.

Industry estimates suggest that although India contributes a significant 28 per cent to the total talent pool of knowledge workers globally, it will be besieged by a severe skill shortage of 5,00,000 knowledge workers by 2010 and beyond. The problem is more of suitability than of availability of labour, an industry player said.

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