Revised block grant scheme for IITs

The union cabinet Thursday approved a proposal for introduction of a revised block grant scheme for funding non-plan expenditure of IITs and Indian Institute of Science (IIS), Bangalore, from 2012-13 to 2016-17.

The amount computed as non-plan grants for the IITs will now be based on student strength under the new proposal, said a press release.

Expenditure on scholarships/fellowships, being a planned activity, shall henceforth be funded through plan funds, it said.

"The Block Grant Scheme would provide for matching grants from the government for the savings made by the institute from revenue expenditure.

This is expected to instill fiscal discipline among the institutes and encourage them to generate more resources, the government statement said.

It said the financial health of the eight IITs and IIS, Bangalore, will improve and these institutes will be encouraged to generate more revenue which will in turn enable them to achieve further financial and functional autonomy.

The IITs to benefit from the revised block grant scheme include the institutions at Bombay, Delhi, Kharagpur, Kanpur, Madras, Roorkee, Guwahati, BHU (Varanasi), apart from IISc, Bangalore.

Based on the student strength of the IITs and IIS, Bangalore, during 2012-13, block grant for 2012-13 has been worked out to around Rs.1562.69 crore.

The statement said an addition had to be made by indexing the figures to the rate of inflation per annum taking 2010-11 as the base year.