Land norms relaxed for engineering colleges

Mumbai has often been criticised for not having enough new engineering colleges. But this could soon change as the land requirement for starting new institutes is going to be relaxed.

Currently, institutions need 2.5 acres of land to start an engineering college. But on Saturday, union minister for Human Resource and Development (HRD), Kapil Sibal, said that the land area norms will be reduced.

“We have taken a decision to change the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) norms for mega-cities and reduce the 2.5 acre requirement before the next year. A policy on the same will be out soon,” said Sibal, who was in the city to speak at a conference on higher education, organised by the Kandivali Education Society’s BK Shroff College of Arts and MH Shroff College of Commerce.

Sibal, however, refused to specify to what extent the land area requirement will be reduced. The move is being planned to tackle the dearth of engineering institutes in the country.

While there are several institutions in the city that want to start an engineering college, a major bottleneck, said experts, is the availability of land and the land requirement as prescribed by AICTE. In fact, there have been no new engineering colleges in the city since 2005.   

Currently, 48 engineering colleges are affiliated to the University of Mumbai. Of these, 22 are located in south Mumbai and the suburbs which can cater to 8,000 students.   

At a recent meeting, which deliberated on reforms to be undertaken in the AICTE, a decision was taken to reduce the land requirement. Accordingly, the land requirement for engineering institutions in mega-cities was reduced from 3 acres to 2.5 acres, while it was changed from 5 acres to 4 acres for metros.

Sibal on Saturday, however, announced that it will be further brought down.

Sibal’s announcement, said experts, comes as a breather.

“Demand for new engineering colleges, especially in cities, is increasing every year. But owing to the non-availability of land, many colleges cannot meet the AICTE norms. This decision will definitely encourage more people to come forward and invest in colleges,” said a senior engineering professor.

“We have a school, junior and degree college and we wanted to start an engineering college, too. However, the 2.5 acre requirement was a hindrance. We have enough space for the required infrastructure because the state allows an FSI of four for educational institutions. This will also give us enough space for future expansion,” said Rajnikant Ghelani, honorary joint secretary, Kandivali Education Society.

Snehalata Deshmukh, eminent academician and former vice chancellor of Mumbai University, welcomed the move.

“In a city like Mumbai, finding land is a huge problem. Hence, this is a good move. One can build a very good campus and building in a one-acre land. One can go vertical, use aspects like solar energy, and make it into a green campus,” she said.

Some, however, said that relaxing the norms for land further may be detrimental and needs to be studied carefully.

“The government should first discuss its plans with various stakeholders and deliberate in detail why it wants to change the policy,” said an AICTE official.