Mumbai, Aug. 24: Foreign professors will be allowed to teach at the IITs and IIMs, meeting a long-standing demand of the institutes that are facing a faculty crunch.

“IITs and IIMs can invite applications for appointing them provided they fulfil the legal formalities,” HRD minister Arjun Singh said today.

The government has set two conditions:

• If a foreign professor and an Indian with the same qualifications appear for an interview, the Indian will have to be given preference,

• The pay scale for the visiting professors, who will be here on work visas, will be the same as that for Indians.

Welcoming the decision, IIT Powai director Ashok Mishra said: “Experienced foreign faculty is needed to maintain the standards of the IITs. Moreover, many persons of Indian origin, who have been IIT alumni, have shown interest in teaching here.”

Mishra had earlier written to the government asking for foreign professors to be allowed.

Last year, the director of IIT Chennai had also written to the HRD ministry seeking permission to appoint foreign faculty.

Singh said new policy initiatives of the government would increase the funding for higher education and announced a grant of Rs 2 crore for the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Contemporary Studies in the University of Mumbai.