IIT panel approves three-fold fee hike, may cost Rs 3 lakh per year

A proposal for a hike in annual fees of IITs was approved on Thursday, although the final decision needs HRD minister Smriti Irani’s nod.

A proposal for a three-fold hike in annual fees of Indian Institute of Technology colleges -- from Rs 90,000 to Rs 3 lakh -- was approved by a panel on Thursday, although the final decision needs the nod of HRD minister Smriti Irani.

A proposal for a hike in annual fees of IITs was approved on Thursday.(HT File Photo)

Another recommendation by the Standing Committee of IIT Council (SCIC) is the proposal of a new entrance examination conducted by the National Authority of Test (NAT) should be held from 2017.

Final decision in this regard too rests with Irani, it is learnt.

Sources told PTI that the SCIC, a body comprising IIT directors and senior officials adopted the report presented earlier by a sub-committee headed by the IIT Bombay director Devang Khakhar, which had suggested hiking fees to Rs 3 lakh and recommended sources of financing for IITs.

“However, the sub-committee has been again asked to consider if this fee hike should also be applied to students studying at the post-graduate level as they are studying on a fellowship basis,” a source said.

If the recommendations of the SCIC are accepted, even the fees of foreign students would be raised from the current annual $4000 to $10,000, they added.

However, the committee emphasised that every student should be provided educational loans without interest and collateral under the Vidyalakshmi scheme, sources said.

Another nod that the committee is learnt to have given is regarding a proposal to hold IIT admission tests in eight countries abroad to attract foreign students.

Sources said the panel also approved the recommendations of a report prepared by a committee of eminent personalities, headed by Ashok Mishra, for holding an aptitude test conducted by a National Testing Service, on the basis of which candidates will be shortlisted for taking JEE (Advanced) for entry to IITs.

However, the committee has recommended that the test should be conducted from next year and not in 2016. The Ashok Mishra committee had focused on reducing the dependence on coaching institutions by IIT aspirants.

The committee wants that coaching by best quality teachers for such exams should be provided through online platforms by the government, reducing the need that candidates may feel for private tuitions, a source said.

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