New Delhi: The government yesterday slashed the fees for post-graduate programmes at the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) to Rs 30,000 per annum from Rs 1.5 lakh per annum.

"It has been decided that the fees for the post-graduate programmes in the IIMs should be fixed at Rs 30,000 per annum. No other charges or fees shall be levied on the students except for mess charges that would be payable by the students separately. The revised fee structure will take effect from the academic session 2004-05," a directive issued by the Human Resource Ministry to the six IIMs said.

The decision has been taken after considering the recent Supreme Court order and the report of a review committee that went into the issue, the HRD ministry order said.

The order said that the fees charged by the IIMs at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore and Kozhikode at around Rs 1.5 lakh per annum was "exorbitant," considering that these institutions were fully funded by Central Government and their financial requirements were met through the Central Budget.