New Delhi: A new fee structure, a common entrance test giving weightage to Class 12 exam marks and higher focus on research were among the issues discussed at a meeting here on Wednesday of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Council.

The council, a governing body responsible for all the IITs, took a look at a proposal to indirectly hike the annual fee of a general category student from Rs.50,000 to Rs.2 lakh.

"The expenditure on one student in IIT is Rs.7-8 lakh, whereas the fee is Rs.50,000," Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said after the meeting.

"We said the fee cannot be hiked, but under the new system discussed, the student will pay the same fee at the time of admission. When they start working, the rest of their fee will be paid in installments from their salaries," the minister said.

The student will, however, be exempted if he or she goes for higher education, Masters or Ph.D., or takes up academics and teaching.

"The immediate difference of fee will be borne by the government. If a student has any gainful employment, he will have to pay back the difference in installments," Sibal said.

Students from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and from the non-creamy layer of other backward category will be exempted from the fee hike.

"According to the calculations, only 25 percent of the students will be affected by this," Sibal said.

The minister added that a final decision will be taken after consultation with states.

The council also agreed in principle to hold a common entrance test for engineering colleges.

"There are two aims behind holding a common entrance test. First, to reduce the burden on children for giving multiple entrance test, and, second, to maintain the diversity of India inside the IITs," Sibal said.

"Presently only those who can afford coaching for entrance exams are going to the IITs," he said.

Under the new system suggested, weightage would be given to the marks obtained by a student in Class 12 examinations.

Sibal, however, added that whether the colleges under state government will be included or not under the system would be decided only after a meeting with state governments.

"The Indian Statistics Institute has arrived at a formula for equalising marks in all boards. If one board gives 90 percent as highest marks, and the other gives 75 percent, the marks will be equalized on the basis of a formula," Sibal said.

Producing more research scholars was one of the key issues taken up during the meeting, with the council deciding to enhance the capacity of IITs to produce 10,000 Ph.D. graduates annually from around 1,000 presently and increase faculty strength from around 4,000 presently to 16,000 by 2020. IANS