IIM(B) hikes fee for extra revenue

BANGALORE: Studying at IIMs in India will cost more from coming academic year. The fee for two-year post-graduate management programmes has been hiked at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore by Rs 25,000, from Rs 1.75 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.

Announcing the hike, director of IIM (B) Prakash G Apte said that the institute aims to recover 50 per cent of the money spent on every student. “We spend Rs 4 lakh on every student in the campus. By hiking the fees we aim to recover at least 50 per cent of the fees,” he told reporters.

Other IIMs are expected to follow suit. The board of governors, which assembled at IIM (B) campus on Tuesday, also agreed to hike fees for foreign students from $10, 000 to $ 15,000. As a result, the institute will generate an additional income of Rs 1.5 crore, Apte disclosed. However, students from the economically weaker sections need not despair. Apte said. “No student has rejected seats so far. They were helped to get bank loans and freeships” he said. IIM (B) will be admitting 280 students for 2007-08 instead of 240, out of which 20 seats will be reserved for OBC students.

The IIM (B) board has also approved a new revenue sharing formula for consultancy work. Till now, faculty members who used to take up consultancy work, had to share their earnings on 60:40 basis with the institute. As per the IIM (B) board’s decision, projects worth Rs six lakh were exempted and for any project above this amount, the faculty members need to share their earnings on a 50:50 basis, Prof Apte said.