The government is planning to set up 20 new Indian Institutes of Technology across the country.

The Union HRD ministry has submitted a proposal to this effect to the Planning Commission, its annual report for 2006-07 said.

The Planning Commission has suggested that the setting up of the new IITs could be considered under public-private participation, the report stated.

There are seven Indian Institutes of Technology and six Indian Institutes of Management in the country. The government has recently decided to set up three new IITs in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan.

The government will set up the seventh IIM at Shillong, the report said.

Two new schools of Planning and Architecture are also proposed to be started at Vijayawada and Bhopal.

In addition to the existing Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) at Gwalior, Allahabad and Jabalpur, a new IIIT (Design and Manufacturing) has been approved to be set up at Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, the report said.

The government has set up two Indian Institutes of Scientific Education and Research at Kolkata and Pune. One more such institute will be set up at Mohali, while two more are proposed -- one each in Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram.

Four new Central universities were created last year, the report said.

The University Grants Commission was given a plan budget of Rs 1,269 crore (Rs 12.69 billion) in 2006-07, which was a substantial increase of about 68 per cent over the 2005-06 allocations, it added.