The new NITs will start classes either in campuses taken on lease or temporarily in mentor NITs.

Work for construction of campuses for these new NITs will also be initiated subject to the land being provided free of cost by the concerned states and union territories.

The new NITs are being set up so as to meet the needs of states and union territories which do not have NITs as of now. This will meet their long standing demand.

Soni said the new NITs will be able to provide high quality education to many of the bright students from these regions, as 50 percent of the seats are to be filled from the eligible students from these states and union territories.

'Many of the states or union territories, where these new NITs are being opened, especially those in northeast, are lacking in national level technical institutions,' the minister added.

The new NITs will increase the output of high quality engineering and science graduates in the short run and postgraduates and Ph.Ds in the long run, she said.

The new approved NITs are categorized under two schemes. Scheme A consisting of proposed NITs at Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Goa (Goa will also cater to union territories of Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep), Pudducherry (which will cater to Andaman & Nicobar Islands) and Sikkim.

Scheme B consisting of approved NITs at Delhi (which will also cater to Chandigarh) and Uttarakhand.