Vibrant India Global Education Summit was a pet project of Smriti Irani, say sources, and the planning had started a year ago. (Press Trust of India photo)

A global conference planned by Smriti Irani, the Education Minister, has been called off reportedly because of lack of interest from international invitees, say sources.When Ms Irani launched the National Institutional Ranking Framework for universities today, it was an official acknowledgement of the failure of what was widely believed to be her dream project - the Vibrant India Global Education Summit slotted in November in Gandhinagar.The conference was to launch a discussion on the ranking of institutes, but it stands cancelled.It was a pet project of Smriti Irani, say sources, and the planning had started a year ago.Talks were reportedly on with companies like Microsoft for sponsorships and education ministers of 180 countries had been invited to participate in what was planned as a three-day event featuring top academic minds.Sources say there was also talk that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would open the event.Ministry sources told NDTV that the decision to cancel the event was taken last week after the poor response from international delegates. Many reportedly said that November was an inconvenient time as the fall semester begins in September, and this event was to be held soon after.After NDTV's report, the ministry spokesperson called NDTV to clarify that the postponement was due to another event and not 'poor response'. "The minister has been given charge of the ICTE conference on November 7, which is a major responsibility," they said. However, they couldn't explain why this was given priority over the global summit which was being planned for a year.