Punjab Technical University (PTU) was established by an act of State Legislature to promote Technical, Management  Pharmaceutical education in the state at the Degree level and above. The University has the mandate to set up centres of Excellence in Emerging Technologies and for promoting Training, Research  Development in these areas. One of the main focus of the University at this time is in the area of professional  skill oriented technologies to the masses. The University has undertaken the task of training students to help in the development of skilled manpower in this sector in the country in general and in the state particular. With this goal in mind, the University is promoting a number of courses in different streams in regular as well as distance education programmes. Now the university, under its administration, has more than 300 Colleges offering Courses in Engineering, Management, Pharmacy, B.Sc MLT, Hotel Management  Catering Technology and IT Disciplines and around 1500 Learning centers across india under distance education programme.