The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has reduced the amount of processing fee and money to be deposited by new and existing institutions for the year 2011-12.

According to the new fee structure, all technical institutions will have to pay a processing fee of Rs 5 lakh compared with Rs 7.5 lakh earlier.

The fee for minority institutions, institutions set up exclusively for women and those set up in the hilly areas of the North-east has also been reduced. These institutions will now have to pay Rs 3.5 lakh compared with Rs 5 lakh last year.

The decision was taken at a recent AICTE meeting “in light of representation received from the various associations and for the benefit of technical institutions at large”.

Most private technical institutions are relieved with the lowering of fee. “We are very happy with AICTE's decision, and will now go ahead with our plans. To begin with, this year we plan to set up an institute in Hyderabad,” Dr A. M. Sherry, Chairman, IMT Group of Institutions, told Business Line .

Dr H.C. Chaturvedi, Chairman, BIMTECH, welcomed the lowering of fee but wanted AICTE to change the norms regarding fixed deposits. “It is not right for a statutory body to ask us for FDs in its name and even keep the interest earned on it. We will be taking up the matter with the Human Resource Development Minister shortly”, he said.

According to the revised fee structure, posted on AICTE's website, engineering & technology institutions offering the post-graduate diploma and degrees will now have to pay Rs 35 lakh compared with Rs 90 lakh earlier. The fee for exclusive minority, women and NE hilly area institutions has also been reduced to Rs 28 lakh from Rs 75 lakh earlier.

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