K'taka urges centre to set up IIT in the state

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said the state government had "repeatedly' been requesting the Centre to set up an IIT in Karnataka". The Governor had also written to the Centre in this matter.    

"We are hoping that our request will be positively considered in the 11th five year plan", the letter said.    

Karnataka has a large number of Research and Development institutions of international repute in Science and Technology, he said, adding that these institutions and global companies require high quality human resources, which the IITs produce.    

He said karnataka did not figure in the list of states which were sanctioned new IITs in the 2008-09 union budget. "I am surprised by this decision of the central government, which ignored the long pending demand and genuine needs of the state", he said    

Pointing out that the 2008-09 state budget had announced many measures to harness knowledge power, he said the government has decided to set up a knowledge and higher education commission at the state level.     "It is in the fitness of things that an IIT be established in Karnataka", he said.