A conference of the state chief ministers to be conveyed here on Tuesday may approve opening of 20 more Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), in addition to four already functioning in Gwalior, Jabalpur, Allahabad and Kanchipuram.

Human resources development minister Kapil Sibal, who will be chairing the meeting, sees great demand for the IT experts opening up from the new national telecom policy he got approved by the Union Cabinet last week and wants the new institutes to produce enough hands to meet this demand.

Fifteen states have already sent proposals to his ministry to open these institute and one each has been already sanctioned in Rajasthan, Assam, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura while others will be approved in Tuesday's meeting.

The centre has already set aside Rs 2,558 crore for opening the new IIITs under the PPP (public, private participation) model that requires the private parties to contribute just 15 percent share, while the centre will give 50 percent and the state governments have to bear 35 percent of the cost besides allocating 50-100 acres of land.

The HRD ministry's estimate is that opening of each IIIT would cost Rs 128 crore to the centre, besides a one-time grant of Rs 50 crore towards the salary of the teaching faculty in the first four years.