MUMBAI, July 16 -- The Mumbai Educational Trust (MET) run by the family of food and civil supplies minister Chhagan Bhujbal has received permission to set up a skill university - a unique instance flagged by the state skill development department itself as the "first case of a private skill university on government land". The state cabinet as well as the state legislature cleared the proposal for the Bhujbal Skill Tech University in Nashik last week. While MET has been running an educational institute on this government-owned land for two decades, its proposed skill university is a new institution governed by a different set of regulations. This university will be set up on a plot whose construction area measures 11,704 sq m. According to the project report, it will focus on artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, electric advancements, vehicles, machines and battery technology. However, sources in the skill development department said the Private Skills University Act 2024 mandates that the university should be self-financed and it must be situated either on private land or leased land with a registered lease tenure of 30 or more years. And, yet, MET's Bhujbal Skill Tech University will sit on government land secured on a long lease. This is tantamount to a subsidy, sources in the skill department said. In its presentation to the state government, the department had said "historically granted government land can be seen as an indirect state subsidy and an uneven playing field". However, it said the primary legal requirement of a valid title or long-term lease had been satisfied by MET. The department also underlined the need for a clear policy for future cases, which means the state government would need to amend the provisions regarding land in the existing policy for private skill universities. "This is the first case of a private skill university on government land. A clear policy for future cases without requiring legislative amendments would be appropriate," said an official with the department. He also said since the university has leased the land, it amounted to a concession....