India’s top engineering institute to help set up tech university in Kandy 

Sri Lanka will soon see the establishment of a new technology university under the guidance of Indian Institute of Technology Madras, popularly known or IIT Madras.
The university will be set up in the central province, Kandy, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said delivering the budget speech.
He said India has expressed willingness to support Sri Lanka in this endeavour.
IIT Madras is one of the eight public Institutes of Eminence of India and is also recognised as an Institute of National Importance. The university was founded in 1959 with technical and financial assistance from the former government of West Germany.

IIT Madras is consistently ranked as the top engineering institute in India by the Ministry of Education’s National Institutional Ranking Framework since the inception of the NIRF ranking system in 2016.

As per the 2024 Budget, Sri Lanka is also open to allowing “any recognised educational institution in the world” to establish universities in Sri Lanka. 
However, this will be made possible only after a set of “powerful rules and regulations” for the monitoring of non-state universities are put in place. 
“This will create opportunities for every student who passes G.C.E (Advanced Level) to obtain university education and earn foreign exchange through the admission of foreign students,” Wickremesinghe said. Meanwhile, loan facilities will be provided to students studying in these non-state universities. 
“In addition to the existing interest-free student loan scheme, I propose to implement a subsidised student loan scheme through commercial banks. Arrangements will be made to repay the loan after getting a job,” he said.