New Delhi (PTI): The government has initiated the process of establishment of 12 new central universities by starting site selection for these institutions.

Several committees, which have been set up by the HRD Ministry, have started visiting the sites offered by the state governments to assess the "suitability" of the locations.

"One committee has visited the site offered by Punjab. Very soon two committees will visit the proposed sites in Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh," a senior ministry official said.

The committees would mainly study the availability of required land, connectivity to the place by air, rail, road and other facilities at the locations.

As per the criteria, the state governments are supposed to provide about 500 acres of land free for the setting up of a central university.

These institutes, which would be centres of excellence in various areas of science and humanities, are expected to come up at "ideal" locations so that they can concentrate on academic activities and take up research on developmental issues, the official said.

The government has allocated Rs 2,725 crore for these universities during the 11th Plan, while Rs 50 crore for 2008-09 under the UGC grants, he said.

The UGC has prepared detailed project reports for these universities. The Departmental Performances Reports (DPRs) are under the consideration of the government.

The ball started rolling after the Cabinet last week approved the establishment of these universities.