An IIT panel on Thursday approved a proposal for a three-fold hike in the annual fees of all institutes. If approved, the annual fee will rise to Rs. 3 lakh in comparison to the present amount of Rs. 90,000.


However, the final decision would require the nod of Education Minister Smriti Irani.


Another key recommendation the Standing Committee of IIT Council (SCIC) made was that the proposed new entrance examination designed to test the aptitude conducted by a National Authority of Test (NAT) would be held from 2017 onwards.


Final decision in this regard too rests with Irani, it is learnt. 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, even the fees of foreign students would be raised from the current annual USD 4000 to USD 10,000, they added. However, the committee has also emphasised that every student should be provided educational loans at an interest- free basis and without collateral under the Vidyalakshmi scheme, sources said.