The annual fee for undergraduate courses at IITs has been hiked by more than double, sources in the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry said on Thursday.

The annual fee has been hiked from Rs. 90,000 to Rs. 2 lakh.

Confirming the development, a senior official at HRD Ministry said: “The fee for all IITs has been increased from Rs. 90,000 to Rs. 2 lakh. The official announcement in this regard will come out on Friday.”

The move comes a day after Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani promised full fee waiver for students belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and differently-abled categories at the IITs.

Students whose family income is less than Rs. 5 lakh per annum will also get a waiver of two-third of the fee, sources said.

The Standing Committee of the IIT Council (SCIC) had recently approved a threefold increase in fees for undergraduate programmes at IITs from Rs. 90000 per annum to Rs. 3 lakh, and sent the same for approval to the MHRD.

However, instead of Rs. 3 lakh, a hike of 120 percent has been implemented which will come in effect from the coming academic session.

[Source:- The Hindu]