Chennai, June 24 (IANS): The two new IITs -- Palakkad and Tirupati -- are set to receive the first batch of studentsf or the academic year 2015-2016, a statement said on Wednesday.

The two new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), being mentored by IIT Madras, will receive 120 students each and will offer B.Tech courses in civil, computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering with 30 seats in each branch.

The government had announced the setting up of five new IITs in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Goa and Jammu.

"We have planned and worked extensively over the past ten months to ensure that when we begin classes in August 2015, we give the first batch of students an educational and living experience comparable to that at any existing IIT," said IIT Madras director Bhaskar Ramamurthi, who will be the mentor director of the new institutions till director is appointed by the ministry of human resource development.

Senior faculty members P.B. Sunil Kumar and K.N. Satyanarayana have been appointed as professor-in-charge for IIT Palakkad and IIT Tirupati respectively.

The institutes at present will function out of temporary premises with adequate hostel capacity.

Students can avail IIT Palakkad and IIT Tirupati as an option while filling their online choices from June 25.

Classes at both the IITs will begin during the first week of August 2015.The statement said that the sites for the permanent campus have been identified for both IITs and the respective state governments were in the process of handing over the land.