The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) might allow the corporate sector to start engineering and other technical colleges, a top council official said Monday.

"Companies formed under Section 25 of the Companies Act may be considered for this purpose. It may take one or two years to finalise the guidelines and modalities for implementation of this proposal," AICTE chairman S.S. Mantha said here.

Welcoming the move, Anshu Kataria, chairman of the Aryans Business School, said that it would help the engineering and technical education sector. He is also the convener of the education sub-committee of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"This will not only attract big corporate houses to invest in education sector but would also attract foreign direct investment (FDI)," Kataria told IANS.

So far, only government, semi-government organisations, societies and trusts are permitted to start educational projects.

"All the stakeholders should work together for the education system to improve," Mantha said.

The AICTE chairman said the council did not recognise distance education, though it has allowed double shift in the educational institutes. He said the aim should be to get more and more eligible people into higher education.