IITs, NITs hike fees but few opt for loans

Hyderabad: The tuition fee in the Indian Institutes of Technology and National Institutes of Technology has almost doubled this year, but there were fewer takers for education loans — especially in the two Telugu speaking states, thanks to fee waivers extended  by the Centre.

The IITs are charging Rs 2 lakh, against the Rs 90,000 last year. The NIT fee has been raised from Rs 70,000 to Rs 1.25 lakh. But of the 240 freshers who joined IIT-Hyderabad this year, only 52 have taken out loans from a leading public sector bank. This was 50 per cent less than last year. The situation was the same in NIT-Warangal and IIT-Tirupati, a bank official said.

This was the outcome of the Centre extending fee waivers to students — based on caste and economic backgrounds. The fee was cut for differently-abled, students from SC and ST communities and those belonging to families with incomes less than Rs 1 lakh per year.

Students from family income between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh had two-thirds of their fee waived. At IIT-H, nearly 125 freshers had applied for waivers, 52 chose loans while others were disinclined to borrow. A lower interest rate, at 9.35 per cent against the 10.35 per cent last year, has also failed to impress.

Banking officials said students from the middle classes relied on education loans. While until last year, banks offered up to '4 lakh for the four-year duration of study in IITs, they are now offering '9 lakh in view of the fee hike.