IIM-B hikes annual fee to Rs 4 lakh

The Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B) has hiked the fee for post graduate programme (PGP) from the existing Rs 2.5 lakh per annum to Rs 4 lakh per annum. The decision to hike the fee, to be effective from the next academic year, was approved by the IIM-B Board of Governors meeting chaired by Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Tuesday here. The decision to hike the fee was long pending as the premier academic institution was subsidising the education of the students. According to IIM-B, the institute incurred an expenditure of Rs 5 lakh per student per year whereas the fee charged was just 50% of it. The balance 50% of the fee was being subsidised. All incoming PGP students will pay Rs 4 lakh for the first year and another Rs 5 lakh in the second year. “Since the cost of the education per year per student is Rs 5 lakh, there is a proposal to collect the same. The IIM-B is planning to fix the fee at Rs 5 lakh per year from the 2009 academic year,” a spokesperson of IIM-B said. Besides, the IIM-B was failing to attract faculty due to compensations that were not on a par with the private universities. “The hiked fee will go towards the functioning of the institute, improvement of infrastructure,” the spokesperson added. Though the number of full time faculty at the institute is 120, it has fallen below 100. The institute hopes to regain its full faculty strength. IIM-B Director Pankaj Chandra said the institute provided financial assistance amounting to Rs 91.13 lakh to 49 students during the year 2007-08. “No student will be denied an opportunity to pursue the PGP for want of financial resources. Besides the financial assistance provided by the institute, several students won awards and merit and need-based scholarships,” he said in his report at the thirty-third annual convocation of IIM-B on Friday. He pointed out that all 266 students were successfully placed with top Indian and international firms. “In order to encourage alternative career choices, IIM-B has become the only institution to allow students to defer placement by two years. Five students have taken advantage of this flexibility to pursue other interests. Two of them are looking to start entrepreneurial ventures,” Chandra pointed out. Amit Gupta secured the first rank in the PGP 2006-08 batch. Mukesh Ambani gave away the awards to passing out students of PGP, Fellow Programme in Management, PGP in Public Policy and Management and PG Diploma in Software Enterprise Management. In all, 424 students passed out of the IIM-B.