New Delhi: With an aim to setup a central university in every state of the country, the Union Cabinet on Friday cleared a proposal to establish 12 new central varsities and upgrade four existing state universities to central universities.

The 12 new proposed central universities will come up in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand.

The state universities which will be upgraded to a central university include the Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar (Uttarakhand); Dr. Harisingh Gaur University, Sagar (Madhya Pradesh); Guru Ghasidas University, Bilaspaur (Chhattisgarh) and Goa University, Goa.

A budget of Rs.3,280 crores has been sanctioned during the 11th Five Year Plan for the project.

Of this, Rs.2,700 crores will be used for setting up the new central universities and the remaining Rs.580 crores will be spent on the four existing state universities to help them with the upgradation.

Among 12 new central universities sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), the one in Karnataka will be established at Gulbarga.

Karnataka Minister for Higher Education, Arvind Limbavali has said that the state government will extend its full support to establish the central varsity at Gulbarga. He also requested the MHRD to sanction the establishment of an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in the state.

A high-level team from the MHRD will visit Gulbarga within 15 days to examine the proposed sites for the university.

The district administration had already identified Kadakanchi and Suntanur in Aland taluk as the proposed location for the varsity.

The administration has also been directed by the state government to identify at least four more sites, probably close to Gulbarga city or within the city for the purpose.