Joshi cuts IIM fees 80% to Rs 30,000

More goodies for Gombas (or grossly overpaid MBAs, as lesser-paid folks are wont to enviously call them). Murli Manohar Joshi’s HRD ministry has reduced the fees of the six Indian Institutes of Management by 80 percent. Students joining MBA and other postgraduate courses from the next academic session will have to pay Rs 30,000 per year instead of Rs 1.5 lakh.

However, the cream of India’s Gen Now will still not get any free lunches. The new fee structure will include all expenses except mess charges, said a ministry letter to the IIMs.

The issue of fee reduction has been on the HRD ministry’s agenda for three months. Joshi argued that the fee charged by the IIMs was exorbitant, considering they are funded by the Central government. Interestingly, the fee reduction comes on the heels of the finance ministry cutting the allocation for the IIMs for 2004-05 to Rs 45 crore, from Rs 74.73 in 2003-04.

The ministry had also been quoting the U R Rao committee, which had recommended Rs 6,000 as the ideal annual fee. In addition, it has been insisting that the IIMs increase the number of seats for postgraduate courses. A decision on this issue has not been taken as yet.