The suggested offshore IIT chains offer undergraduate degree programs in data science, artificial intelligence, robotics, mining, and energy, as stated in an Education Ministry report.  

According to the report, which is considered by the center and the prospective courses have been decided based on the feedback from the Indian embassies abroad, which reached out to the authorities of the host nations, for gauging the demands of the various disciplines in the respective countries.  

The report stated, “The survey shows that most of the universities in the nations targeted initially have undergraduate programs in conventional disciplines…From the feedback shared by the ambassadors of the identified host nations, the most frequently mentioned disciplines are related to computer science or Information Technology, data sciences, AI, machine learning or robotics, electrical, electronics, mining, metallurgy, petroleum, and energy.”  

In addition, since the Bachelor of Science (BS) and Masters of Science (MS) are the common names for degrees, which are provided at international colleges, the academic program naming will be completed according to the Bachelor of Technology (BTech) and Masters of Technology (M.Tech), as in the convention in India, noted by the committee.  

In recommending varied modes of admission, which include JEE, GATE, JAM, SAT and GRE, the committee says, “A JEE or JEE (Advanced) exclusively for off-shore campuses can be conceived in the future if it’s economically and logistically viable”.

The committee has further prescribed a minimum intake for starting the programs which include 40 per year of UG courses, and 15-20 in case of PG courses. The report stated that the faculty-student ratio should be 1:10 in line with the global grading. The report further added that the faculty must be preferred “more than the country of origin”. The report says about faculty of recruitment in India, “The faculty should be recruited on long-term contracts with enough flexibility given to the institutions to negotiate salary and terms with the candidates,” the report says.  

The committee is placed to identify the provisions for deputing the faculty members from the existing IITs for the proposed institutes abroad, in particular the formative years along with the suggestion that the joint recruitment of faculty could be explored.  

Equivalent flexibility has been envisaged in the case of students and in the proposal for spending four semesters each in India and abroad.  

From an administrative perspective, the Board of Governors model which is in place of the domestic IITs is likely to be replicated even for the offshore campuses. Report added, “The BoG should include individuals from the host country as well as India. They should represent diverse fields such as academics, industry, and public service.”  

A committee formed by the Centre for the global expansion of the IITs has in advised by the Indian missions abroad, as recognized by the UK, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Malaysia, and Thailand in offshore chains, “Indian International Institute of Technology.”