Bids for public-private varsity in rural area

Updated on: Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Mumbai: The government, along with the International Finance Corporation, which is a member of the World Bank Group, will soon invite competitive bidding from the private sector to set up a greenfield science and technology university in the country.

The university, which will be among the country's first such institutions to use the public-private-partnership (PPP) model, will come up in a rural area, according to sources close to the development.

The government has agreed to provide subsidy to the party which wins the bid. Moreover, the university will enjoy complete autonomy in terms of operations and curriculum. The subsidy will ensure that the university caters to people from backward classes as well.

The government is studying five PPP models at present. We have to identify a viable model which would work well in the Indian context. The government cannot fund the entire need for education. It has to be supplemented with priate sector's participation,' Shakila T Shamsu, Joint Adviser (Education), Planning Commission said.

For instance, Gujarat which aims to be a 'biotech hub' of the country, led a group of clinical research professionals to collaborate with the Gujarat State Biotech Mission (GSBTM) in setting up the state's first private-public partnership (PPP) institute for clinical research.

The resource gap in higher education identified by Planning Commission stands at Rs 220,000 crore, according to a recent Ernst & Young report.

Bids for public-private varsity in rural area

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