New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh Monday said Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the country's top educational institutions, are surviving only because of their quality students but they do not have world-class faculty.

 
 "IITs, IIMs are good because of their students but the faculty is not world-class here. No worthwhile research is happening at the IITs and IIMs," Ramesh told reporters here.
 
 Ramesh said only private institutions can be relied upon for meaningful research and a government institution can never attract young talent.
 
 When asked why he was criticising government institutes when he himself had studied at the IIT, Ramesh said: "The IITs and IIMs are excellent because of the quality of students not because of quality of research or faculty."
 
 Speaking at a function on conservation of biodiversity, the environment minister announced setting up of a world-class institution of marine biodiversity on a public-private-partnership basis with Reliance Industries. 
 
 Ramesh said the ocean is as important as forests in the country especially because India has a 7,500-km-long coastline. "We are setting up a world-class centre for carrying out research on marine biodiversity," he added.