Sikkim Assembly on Tuesday approved two bills, paving the way for the setting up of two private universities in West Sikkim, and amended another bill to revive a defunct private university based originally at Jorethang in South Sikkim.

The two proposed new universities are Sikkim International University to be located at Sribadam and Medhavi Skills University, Sikkim, which will be set up at Bermiok. Both Sribadam and Bermiok are in West district. The self-financing private varsities will be sponsored by the Research and Gyan for Noble Upliftment Trust and Medhavi Foundation, respectively.

The Assembly also gave its nod to the revival of the Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management (EIILM) University by changing its name to Sikkim Alpine University and the location from Jorethang to Kamrang, which is also in South Sikkim.

EIILM was set up by an Act of the Assembly in 2006, but was dissolved in 2015 following an adverse report of a panel formed by the University Grants Commission with regard to its functioning.

During the course of his budget speech on Monday, the chief minister had said his government was allowing some select qualitative institutions to open their educational ventures in Sikkim not to only impart quality education but also become major sources of ideas, knowledge, innovations and revenue, among others.

The Himalayan state already has four private universities, including Sikkim Professional University, SRM University, ICFAI University and Manipal University.