While debating the limit till which IIT-B can increase its students’ intake, IIT-Bombay director Ashok Misra said: “I am not in favour of more IITs that the government is thinking of. While we require quality institutes to accommodate the growing number of students, merely increasing the numbers and calling them IITs may not solve the problem. One has to ensure the brand name and quality is not diluted.”

He said instead the existing IITs could help mentor and incubate the new institutes so that they reach a level of excellence. “We have worked hard to attain this status of excellence. So why call the new ones IITs?” he questioned.

Enhancing the quality of existing colleges in the country could also be explored, said Misra.

Both Misra and IIT Kharagpur Director D Acharya said that it took 10-15 years to build a good brand name and establish an institute. The biggest challenge for the IITs today is attracting the best faculty to maintain the standards of excellence and getting the best faculty would get even tougher for the new IITs, they said.

The issue, emphasised Acharya, was that one needed to provide quality education to a large number of students. “And augmenting and strengthening the capacity of the existing IITs is a much better option. For instance, IIT Kharagpur has enough land to facilitate a significant increase in enrolment. The only issue is where do we get good teachers from?” said Acharya.

Misra said setting up second campuses could also be a viable model since the existing IITs already have an established curriculum, governance and good faculty, among others.

IIT-Kanpur Director S G Dhande said that considering that among the 300,000 students who appear for the entrance test, only 5,000 are selected, additional provisions are required to absorb the talent in the country and that he is not opposed to new IITs. “It’s the scientific advisory council to the Prime Minister which has recommended establishment of more IITs. The council must have looked at the pros and cons. There will be problems, but if one goes ahead with the plans, one has to ensure that all commitments are met,” he said.

Agreeing that good institutes are required to meet the aspirations of students and that such institutes should be well funded, IIT-Delhi Director S Prasad, however, said, “We will be happier if the new institutes are called something else.”