On the offer will be several specialised IT courses and Microsoft-authorised training centres across the country.

The university is mulling over the idea of floating a separate body for the IT education venture which will also take up consultancy work with the industry, IGNOU officials told The Financial Express

.A team of senior faculty members is likely to visit several top universities around the world, such as Stanford, Carneige Mellon and British Columbia, to work out a working relationship.

Talks with Microsoft Corporation are at an advanced stage and the university is expected to enter into an agreement with the company for running Microsoft-certified programmes, said senior officials. The university is open to work out a similar arrangement with other IT companies for delivering specialised trainingprogrammes, officials added.

Conforming IGNOU's initiatives in infotech education, IGNOU director MM Pant said the university's foray into courseware development and export has already received positive response from the industry. The university has bagged a project from the department of electronics (DoE) to develop courseware for advanced diploma in information technology. The university has earned fees worth Rs 7 crore for the purpose.

The university has recently entered into a collaboration with UK-based Edexcel Foundation for delivering a new degree programme, Bachelor of Information Technology. The programme is recognised by several UK-based education councils. IGNOU has received a fee of around Rs 4 crore for developing and delivering the courseware.

Developing specialised infotech courseware will be a major revenue earner for the university in the coming years, said Pant. However, availability of faculty can be a constraint, officials conceded.

A way to attract quality faculty could be toencourage them to take up consultancy work with industry, officials added.

Over 70,000 students can presently avail of various IGNOU programmes through the internet. The university has an ambitious plan to introduce a virtual campus and also launch postgraduate and doctoral programmes.

Set up in 1985, IGNOU has establised 21 regional centres and 352 study centres in various parts of the country.