Against the background of growing political uncertainty, the Centre is planning two Ordinances to fast-track the creation of eight new Indian Institutes of Technology and 16 central universities.

A draft Ordinance for 12 new universities and upgrading four - Bilaspur University (Chattisgarh), Garhwal University (Uttarakhand), Goa University and Sagar University (Madhya Pradesh) - is expected to be put up for Union Cabinet approval. This will take the number of central universities to 37.

An Ordinance for the new IITs is also being considered to implement the initiatives that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had formally announced in his Independence Day address in 2007.

The department of higher education had earlier sought Cabinet approval to amend the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961, to include the eight new IITs and to form a society under the Societies Act, 1861, to set them up. The plan to form a society is being shelved to hasten the process. With the Banaras Hindu University's Institute of Technology also slated to be upgraded to an IIT, the number of IITs will increase to 16.

For the new IITs, the government has provided for Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) in the 11th Plan and, to start with, Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) has been allocated in Budget 2008. For the 16 central universities, Rs 2,725 crore (Rs 27.25 billion) has been provided for in the Planm, with Rs 50 crore allocated in the Budget.

Two sites for the new IITs have been finalized - Bihta in Bihar and Medak in Andhra Pradesh. For the others, an expert committee is examining sites proposed by the Gujarat, Punjab and Orissa governments.