The University Grants Commission has released a list of 20 institutes. These 20 institutes consist of 10 public and 10 private institutions in the country which are recommended for the Institute of Eminence also known as IoE Status. The colleges enlisted under private institutions as Institute of Eminence will not be financially supported but instead, they will be entitled for more autonomy as a special category Deemed University.
The university grants commission in its 542nd meeting took into consideration the reports of the Empowered Experts Committee which was appointed by the government under the Chairmanship of N Gopalaswami. The committee recommended 15 public institutions and 15 private institutions to be given the status of Institute of Eminence.
The education ministry has said that although the scheme only provided for 10 public and private institutions, the university grants commission has examined the list of 15 public and private institutions using ‘transparent and verifiable criteria’.
From the list of public institutes which have been given the Institute of Eminence Status includes IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IISC Bangalore, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, Delhi University, University if Hyderabad and Banaras Hindu University. The public institutions which were shortlisted earlier but not recommended in the present list include Savitribai Phule Pune University, AMU, Tezpur University, Panjab University, and Andhra University.
From the list of private universities which has been listed in the 10 institute of eminence list include:
- Bits Pilani
- Manipal Academy of Higher Education
- Jio Institute (Reliance Foundation, Maharashtra)
- Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bangalore
- VIT Vellore
- Jamia Hamdard
- Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology
- P Jundal University
- Shiv Nadar University
- Bharti (Satya Bharti Foundation)
Institutions like Bharti and Jio Institute fall under the ‘Greenfield Institutions’ which according to the ministry has not reached the status right now but were well-meaning, responsible private institution bringing global standards to the country.
These institutions will get a three year period to establish and operate the institution following which the EES will consider giving them the IoE status. Institutions like Jadavpur University and Anna University will be considered for the Institute of Eminence status only after the respective state governments issue and official communication which will allocate their share of the funds which amounts to 50 percent.