Sibal keen to forge alliance with US varsities

With the government deciding to set up 14 innovation universities, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal today expressed keeness to forge an alliance with leading US varsities in shaping the structure of the proposed institutes.

"We hope that we can forge alliances with one or two top universities in the United States for partnering with us in the architecture (structure) of one or two innovation universities," Sibal, who is on a week-long visit to the US, told PTI here.

Sibal would visit reputed universities in the US, including Harvard, Yale, George Washington and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and discuss on partnership and collaboration with elite Indian institutions.

The HRD Ministry has decided to set up 14 innovation universities in the XIth Five Year Plan to push research and development.

India is the obvious choice for education investment, he said and added that in the near future Europe and Australia would seek human resources from India.

"The early bird catches the worm," he said, pointing out that while the US produced 75,000 engineers annually, Bangalore alone produced 65,000.