NEW DELHI - SOME say it is like robbing Peter to pay Paul. Others have dubbed it the 'Robin Hood model' of fee collection by India's top management schools.

The elite Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have announced steep hikes in fees, ranging from 50 per cent to 200 per cent, amid protests by students, parents and even the academia who feel the move will shut the doors of these institutes to many bright and deserving students.

The management of the IIMs has justified the jump in fees for the two-year postgraduate course in business management from 450,000 rupees (S$15,000) to 1.15 million rupees from the new academic session this year, saying the money would be used to fund the studies of poorer students.

Surprisingly, the government, which has frowned on such moves in the past, did not raise any objections this time, though the increase was much more than the 50 per cent announced by Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh in Parliament last month.

Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission which formulates India's five-year development plans, justified the hike.

'The students of the management institutes are going to earn much more than the fees they pay,' he said. 'The government should not subsidise higher education beyond a point. If a student is going to earn high after completing a course, he does not need subsidised education. He needs loans, which he will easily pay back.'

Leading Indian and foreign companies jostle for the campus recruitment of IIM graduates, offering fabulous salaries and perks.

The IIMs said the fees were hiked after calculating the costs for building infrastructure, campus expansion and overall growth.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Apr 12, 2008.