A Cabinet sub-committee has decided to hold another meeting after it was unable to take a unanimous decision on the closure of nine of the 10 new universities started during the BJP government tenure.

The sub-committee, headed by Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, held its second meeting on Friday to review the financial condition of the universities.

In the first meeting, it was decided to close nine universities, including the Maharani Cluster University and Nrupatunga University in Bengaluru apart from Bidar University. However, sources in the committee confirmed that the final decision could not be taken owing to some technical reasons.

The Karnataka State Higher Education Council, which was formed to review the fund amount required for the first five years of running the new universities, had reported that ₹342 crore is required to cover the salaries of the teaching and the non-teaching staff, infrastructure, purchase of equipment, vehicles, furniture, and other items.

“A final decision has not been taken on the closure of some universities that were established. A clear decision on this will be announced after another meeting,” said M.C. Sudhakar, Minister for Higher Education.