IIT Bombay alum stunned by ₹4 lakh UKG fees: ‘My fees for 4 years was half that’

Aviral Bhatnagar shared that his cousin told him her daughter’s UKG fees were crossing ₹4 lakh a year in Mumbai.

Rising education costs have come under the spotlight after a founder compared UKG fees in Mumbai with what he paid for his engineering degree at one of India's top engineering colleges.

Bhatnagar contrasted the fees with his own, saying his IIT Bombay fees were half that for all four years. (Unplash/Representational Image)

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Aviral Bhatnagar shared that his cousin told him her daughter’s UKG fees were crossing ₹4 lakh a year in Mumbai.

Bhatnagar contrasted the fees with his own, saying his fees at IIT Bombay were half that for the entirety of four years.

“My fees at IIT Bombay were half that for the entirety of the 4 years,” the post reads.

Bhatnagar suggested that rising education costs are not discussed as widely, despite placing pressure on families. “Education costs are the hidden inflation that no one is talking about,” he wrote.

Rising education costs spark debate:

Bhatnagar is currently the founder and managing partner of AJVC, a pre-seed fund that invests in Indian start-ups.

He studied at IIT Bombay from 2010 to 2014 and completed a Bachelor of Technology (BTech) in Engineering Physics.

In the post, Bhatnagar highlighted how sharply education expenses appear to have risen, at least in his comparison between UKG fees and his engineering course fees.

“Perhaps AI tutors will make it affordable again,” he adds.

HT.com has reached out to the user for more details. This report will be updated when he responds.

Check out the post here:

Here's how people reacted to the post:

X users reacted strongly to the post. Several agreed with his view, saying school fees have risen sharply and are becoming harder for families to afford.

One of the users commented, “Your UKG fees cost more than my entire IIT degree. Preschool shouldn't cost more than engineering.”

A second user commented, “At this rate, the kid should come home with a pitch deck and a working app.”

A third user commented, “Time to make home schooling great.”

"I did an MBA for half of that fees in 2009. What are they even teaching toddlers charging 4 lakh per year?" another user commented.

The post was shared on February 18, 2026, and since then, it has gained 65,000 views and numerous comments.

Recently, a man in Maharashtra raised concerns after he found that his six-year-old son was carrying a school bag heavier than the recommended limit.

According to his X post, the child, who is in the 1st standard and weighs 21 kg, was carrying a bag and tiffin weighing 4.5 kg, which is well above the advised limit of 10 per cent of a child’s body weight.