The central government has received requests from Bhutan and Morocco to explore setting up offshore campuses of India’s prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), according to sources.
Currently, India has two overseas IIT campuses, IIT Madras-Zanzibar in Tanzania and IIT Delhi-Abu Dhabi in the UAE. A third campus is planned in Western Africa at the Federal Government Academy, Suleja.
“We have received requests from multiple countries including Bhutan and Morocco for setting up IIT offshore campuses,” a source said.
To facilitate this, the government had constituted a 17-member committee, headed by IIT Council Standing Committee Chairperson Dr K Radhakrishnan, which submitted its recommendations in 2022. The committee’s mandate includes identifying suitable foreign locations where students from different nations can pursue technical education.
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IIT Madras launched its Zanzibar campus in November 2023, with Preeti Aghalyam appointed as director-in-charge, becoming the first woman IIT director. The campus currently operates from temporary facilities.
IIT Delhi followed by signing an agreement with the UAE government to establish a campus in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi. The IIT Delhi-Abu Dhabi campus was inaugurated on September 2, 2024, marking a significant step in India’s global outreach in technical education.
The new requests from Bhutan and Morocco reflect growing international interest in Indian technical education and could lead to further IIT campuses abroad, promoting global collaboration and expanding India’s educational footprint.
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