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Many private educational institutions, business schools, and engineering colleges operating with the All India Council for Technical Education’s (AICTE) approval will have to lower their fees to comply with a national committee’s recommendations.

The AICTE made it mandatory in February to implement proposals of the National Fee Committee, a 10-member panel headed by former Supreme Court Judge BN Srikrishna, which was formed in 2014 to prescribe fee guidelines for technical institutions. The panel submitted its report last August.

AICTE chairman Anil D Sabasrabudhe directed all the states to put into practice proposals in the report from the next academic session. Institutions failing to comply with the recommendations will face legal proceedings and cancellation of its AICTE approval, an official in the Union human resource development ministry said. Such institutions may even be forced to shut down.

The education regulator’s directive is likely to impact private institutions such as Symbiosis, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, and Manipal University.

The Symbiosis Institute of Business Management charges Rs 5.8 lakh a year for a two-year MBA programme while the Manipal Institute of Technology’s annual fee is around Rs 3 lakh for a four-year engineering course. These popular private institutes might have to follow a fee cap as the AICTE moves to prevent commercialisation of technical education in the country.

IITs will not be affected by the move as they do not require the AICTE’s approval. The cap could be a windfall for institutes charging lesser than the prescribed amount, giving them an opportunity to hike fees to the stipulated limit.

The report was accepted by both the executive committee and the (AICTE) council. However, the council, directed the AICTE to take necessary action for its implementation, Sabasrabudhe said.

The committee Fixed the maximum (tuition and development) for a two-year MBA course between Rs 1.57 lakh and Rs 1.71 lakh per year, depending on the location of the institute.  Upper limit for a four-year engineering degree (BE or B Tech) fixed in the range of Rs 1.44 lakh and Rs 1.58 lakh per year.  Prescribed the maximum annual fees for technical courses such as B Arch (Rs 2.05-Rs 2.25 lakh), B Pharma (Rs 1.41-Rs 1.55 lakh), MCA (Rs 1.57-Rs 1.7 lakh) and M Tech (Rs 2.31-Rs 2.51 lakh), among others, depending on the location of the institute.  Autonomous and accredited institutions are allowed to charge an additional 10% and 20% tuition fees from students respectively.