AICTE lifts ban on new colleges, tweaks land norm

Chandigarh, March 23

The All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has done away with the land requirement norms for starting a technical institution. Now, the covered area along with floor area ratio (FAR) and floor space index (FSI) will be the parameter to start an institution.

The council has also lifted the moratorium for starting a new college from 2023-24. For the past many years, there had been a ban on starting new technical institutions in the country.

Any society/trust or company can now establish new technical institutions offering engineering and technology programmes across the country. In 2019, the council had put a moratorium on new engineering and technology colleges owing to 45 per cent seat vacancy in these colleges. The council has now lifted the ban for 2023-24.

Dr Anshu Kataria, president, Federation of Self Financing Technical Institutions (FSFTI) and Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA), said the AICTE had given a new lease of life to technical institutions. With surplus land, now the colleges would be able to utilise that land for other projects which would give a financial relief to the technical institutions, he said.

The institutions will also have to obtain the AICTE approval for all technical programmes. If it is found that any institution has taken partial approval, then the approval will be subsequently withdrawn.

The AICTE has also increased the maximum approved intake from the current 300 to 360 in engineering and management programmes, and from 180 to 300 in computer application programme. Now, the merger of different PG diplomas and MBA programmes will also be allowed as long as the student-teacher ratio is maintained.