Pay more to (l)earn more

THE BRIGHT young things at the Indian Institutes of Management will now have to pay a bit more for those coveted diplomas. On Sunday, IIM Ahmedabad hiked the annual fees for its postgraduate diploma course from Rs 1.58 lakh to Rs 1.77 lakh. The IIMs in Kolkata and Indore had decided to raise their fees on Saturday ? Kolkata (from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 1.75 lakh) and Indore (Rs 1.25 lakh to Rs 1.50 lakh). Fees at the IIMs had become a contentious issue in 2004 when the then HRD minister Murli Manohar Joshi had unilaterally announced that they would be reduced to Rs 30,000 per annum.

THE BRIGHT young things at the Indian Institutes of Management will now have to pay a bit more for those coveted diplomas.

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On Sunday, IIM Ahmedabad hiked the annual fees for its postgraduate diploma course from Rs 1.58 lakh to Rs 1.77 lakh. The IIMs in Kolkata and Indore had decided to raise their fees on Saturday — Kolkata (from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 1.75 lakh) and Indore (Rs 1.25 lakh to Rs 1.50 lakh).

Fees at the IIMs had become a contentious issue in 2004 when the then HRD minister Murli Manohar Joshi had unilaterally announced that they would be reduced to Rs 30,000 per annum.

Announcing the hike at IIM Ahmedabad, N.R. Narayana Murthy, chairman of the board, said the increase was required due to cost escalations at the institute owing to several factors.

IIM-A would continue to grant full need-based scholarships to as many students as required, he said, adding that the student who launched his own food chain on Saturday was a recipient of such a scholarship.

Justifying the hike, Murthy said the average salaries received by the graduating students had gone up from Rs 7.50 lakh to Rs 9.75 lakh this year.

The last fees increase at IIM-A was in 2003 (from Rs 1.50 lakh to Rs 1.58 lakh).
Dholakia said IIM-A would conduct about 10 executive development programmes in Dubai and Muscat this year. The partners to provide the infrastructure and logistics in these places had already been identified, he said. Also, advanced management programme will be conducted at the Singapore campus of Essec, the French B-School.

In Kolkata, a source said the institute had increased the fees keeping further expansion in mind. "We need more funds to expand our infrastructure, add some classrooms and construct new hostels, he said.

IIM Bangalore is also said to be considering hiking fees. A decision will be taken after director Prakash Apte returns from abroad. IIM Lucknow has, however, ruled out any immediate hike in fees.