New Delhi: The Minister of State for Human Resource Development (HRD) D. Purandeswari, today announced a scheme for upgradation of 200 State engineering institutions in the XIth Plan.

Purandeswari said that, "Some proposals have been received from the State Governments under this scheme. The proposals shall be approved only after the criteria for selection is decided upon."

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) also has a scheme aimed at Modernization and Removal of Obsolescence (MODROBS) in the Laboratories/ Workshops/ Computing facilities in technical institutions.

The Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme - I (TEQIP-I) of the HRD Ministry was conceived and designed as a long term project to be implemented in 10-12 years in three phases to support excellence and transformation in technical education in the country.

127 institutions participated in TEQIP-I, out of which 18 were Centrally Funded Institutions and the remaining 109 were State Institutions.

The State Institutions were from the Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

The total allocation for these Institutions was Rs.1339 crore.