The union government has sanctioned an interest-free loan of Rs 8049 crore to 12 IITs and NITs across India for research, academic facilities and infrastructure development. The loan was approved by the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA). Two IITs and an NIT are from Telugu states which will receive loans. Rs 500 crore was sanctioned to IIT Hyderabad, Rs 977 crore to IIT Tirupati and Rs 365 crore to NIT in AP. The loan has to be repaid within 10 years.