Calcutta, June 6: Higher education minister Bratya Basu today said the Union human resource development minister had “agreed to consider” his proposal of setting up an IIT or an IIM in the Darjeeling hills.

Basu said he had also requested Kapil Sibal to expedite the process of setting up of 18 model colleges in the state.

Basu, who is in Delhi to attend a conference of higher education ministers and secretaries from across the country, said: “It was a very positive discussion. The HRD minister has agreed to consider our proposal for an IIT or an IIM for the people of the hills.”

Sources close to Basu said he had urged Sibal to release the Centre’s share of arrears for college teachers after their salaries were revised by the Sixth Pay Commission.

Higher education department sources said Mamata Banerjee had asked Basu to submit a proposal for setting up an IIT or an IIM in the hills.

“As the Centre had announced that it wanted to set up more IITs and IIMs in the country, Mamata wants one such institute to come up in Darjeeling. This would help in the development of north Bengal,” a source said.

“There is no quality engineering college in north Bengal. After coming to power, Mamata has given special emphasis to all-round development of north Bengal. An IIT was in her scheme of things,” the source added.