The Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday granted ex-post facto approval to the amendment to The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 to give IIT status to six colleges, an official said.The changes have been brought in for incorporation of six new IITs at Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Palakkad (Kerala), Dharwar (Karnataka), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Goa and Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) into the existing lot, a Ministry of Human Resource Development statement here said.Indian School of Mines (ISM) Dhanbad too will be upgraded to an IIT after the amendment to the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961.“The approval will bring six new Indian Institutes of Technology within the ambit of The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 and declaring them as the institutions of national importance,” the HRD statement said.