In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Commission also suggested that institutions like the NTs and NITs could "mentor" new institutions in order to help raise their standards CONCERNED over the "glaring regional imbalance" in the availability of engineering education, the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) has favoured elite institutions like IITs adopting some engineering institutions to raise their standards.

Noting that two-thirds of the engineering institutions are located in four southern states and Maharashtra, the NKC headed by Sam Pitroda wanted a framework for public-private partnerships to establish new quality institutions. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Commission has also suggested that elite institutions like the IITs and NITs could "mentor" the new institutions in order to help raise their standards.

Suggesting integration of science and engineering education, Pitroda said "We have entered a period in history where the distinction between sciences and engineering has all but disappeared."

In order to reduce the perceived gap between sciences., and engineering, there was a need to create mechanisms that allowed mobility between the two streams, the Commission said.