17 new technical institutions in Maharashtra to become functional during next academic year 2012-13

PUNE: Minimum 17 new technical institutions, which consist engineering colleges, will become operational in the state from the upcoming academic year 2012-13.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which regulates technical education in the country, has given nod to these institutions as part of the approval process for new institutions, new courses and variation in student intake for the next session.

The AICTE kicked off the approval process for the academic session 2012-13 by seeking online submission of suggestions between October and December 2011. The process for scrutiny of these proposals had started in January and ended on March 31.

Until now, Maharashtra makes up for almost 325 engineering colleges that collectively got a student intake of more than 1.20-lakh seats. For the past two years, the engineering colleges in the state have posted close to 20,000 vacant seats.