India to Set Up IIT in A Foreign Land for the First Time

India will set up the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in a foreign land for the first time. It will be established in the Caribbean Island nation ‘Jamaica’, under the National Education Policy (NEP).

Under NEP, India encourages top educational institutes to set up campuses abroad. The Caribbean nation has shown interest in having an IIT on its land. The offshore campuses will not only attract foreign students and build a brand for Indian institutes abroad.

It was announced by the Indian President Shri Ram Nath Kovind, who is on a four-day visit to the Caribbean islands - Jamaica, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines. He is the first-ever Indian president to visit Jamaica. During this visit, he inaugurated the Jamaica-India friendship garden, Ambedkar avenue - a road named after Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar in Jamaica.

With this, India is ready to partner with Jamaica and share its technical skills, knowledge, and expertise which could transform Jamaica’s education and businesses. The establishment of IIT in Jamaica was accepted as it is necessary to nurture our young minds to work jointly in several fields like Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Jamaican traditional medicine and Ayurveda, and in building together a climate-smart world.

Earlier in February 2022, as part of the India-UAE trade deal, the two nations agreed to establish an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in the UAE.

   Important points for the exam:

• India will set up the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in a foreign land for the first time. 
• It will be established in the Caribbean Island nation ‘Jamaica’, under the National Education Policy (NEP).
• He is the first-ever Indian president to visit Jamaica.
• During this visit, he inaugurated the Jamaica-India friendship garden, Ambedkar avenue - a road named after Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar in Jamaica.
• Earlier in February 2022, as part of the India-UAE trade deal, the two nations agreed to establish an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in the UAE.

   Facts to know:

• IITs are autonomous public institutes of higher education and are governed by the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961, which has declared them as the ‘Institutions of National Importance.
• IITs were governed and funded by the Ministry of Education.
• Total number of IITs in India: 23.
• Capital of Jamaica: Kingston.