An IIT panel, on Thursday, approved a proposal for a three-fold hike in annual fees in IITs. However, a final decision on the hike would require the nod of HRD Minister Smriti Irani.
Another key recommendation of the Standing Committee of IIT Council (SCIC) was that the proposed new entrance examination, conducted by National Authority of Test (NAT), be held from 2017 onwards.
Sources told PTI that the SCIC, a body comprising IIT directors and senior officials, in a meeting, adopted the report presented earlier by a sub-committee headed by IIT Bombay Director Devang Khakhar which had suggested hiking fees to Rs. 3 lakh and also recommended multiple sources of financing for the IITs.
“However, the sub-committee has been again asked to consider if this fee hike should also be applied to students studying at Post-Graduate level as they are studying on a fellowship basis,” a source said.
If the recommendations of the SCIC are accepted, the fees of foreign students would be raised from the current annual USD 4000 to USD 10,000, they added.
The committee has also recommended that every student be provided educational loans at an interest-free basis and without collateral under the Vidyalakshmi scheme, sources said.
