New Delhi: The Central Government will amend the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 to make the new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) eligible to award degrees to students.

The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2008 will be tabled in the coming session of the Parliament.

The new IITs are currently operating as registered societies and to be able to award degrees to its students, their names will have to be incorporated into the existing Act.

"A society does not have the power to award degrees to students. For the new IITs, currently operating as societies, their names will have to be incorporated into the Act", an official from the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry said.

The Institutes of Technology Act was amended in 1994 when IIT Guwahati came into existence. The IITs in Delhi, Bombay, Kanpur, Guwahati and Chennai were initially setup as societies.

As many as eight new IITs are being set up in the country during the current academic session to impart high quality technical education.

The new IITs are coming up in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The IITs in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Orissa, Punjab and Rajasthan have started their academic sessions this year.