New Delhi, Jun 20 (IANS): Failure to allot land within the stipulated time by states for building permanent campuses of Centrally funded institutions -- IITs, NITs and IIITs -- would lead to shifting of these campuses to other states, the union Human Resource Development Ministry has said.

As per the move, the states would have to face consequences in case they are unable to allot land for these premier institutions within a fixed time. The ministry is likely to give a month's time for the land allocation.

The ministry has decided to adopt a 'zero tolerance policy' towards the states that fail to allot land for permanent campuses for such institutions.

The directive came during a review meeting of higher education institutions chaired by HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'.

At present, the Indian Institute of Technology, Goa and National Institute of Technology, Sikkim, have been functioning out of temporary campuses due to land allocation issues, the officials said.

Construction of five IITs for which the land has already been allocated is already underway in Jammu, Dharwad, Tirupati, Bhilai and Palakkad.

The ministry has cited cost escalation due to delays in land allotment for the directive.

"The minister's directive is going to act as a deterrent. In many cases, by the time the land is allocated, the project cost gets almost doubled. The move would check the cost and time overruns," an official said.