The Union Cabinet on Wednesday allowed the Higher Education Funding Agency to mobilise Rs 1 lakh crore to fund research and academic infrastructure in higher educational institutions by 2022, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said. The funding will also benefit Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, he added.

“This will help build speedier infrastructure of new Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas,” Javadekar tweeted. “Indian Institutes of Technology, National Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, other central universities and medical colleges will also get funds from the agency.”

Javadekar claimed that the government had increased funding for higher education by 133% compared to 2013-’14, with the infusion of Rs 22,000 crore from the Higher Education Funding Agency.

The Cabinet approved the creation of the agency in September 2016. In November 2017, the agency allocated Rs 2,066 crore for six universities – the Indian Institutes of Technology in Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Kharagpur and Kanpur, and the National Institute of Technology, Suratkal – to improve research infrastructure there.