AICTE's revenue dips by 35% in 2015-16 financial year

Coimbatore: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has seen a 35% dip in its revenue in the financial year 2015-16 due to the reduction in penalty for closing down colleges and cut in annual approval fees. And, the revenue is expected to dip further in the coming years as the apex body for technical education plans to grant multiple-year approval to institutions.
According to an application filed under the Right to Information Act, the total revenue generated by the AICTE in the financial year 2015-16 was 202.93 crore, which is 35% less than the total revenue generated in FY 2014-15 ( 310.07 crore).There are four major sources of revenue for the AICTE - fees and subscriptions, interest received/ earned on investments, income from sales and services and examination. Of these four, fess and subscriptions generates more than 60% of the total revenue.
In 2015-16, the AICTE collected 117.85 crore in fees and subscriptions as against 220.53 crore in 2014-15. The drop in the collection stands out because the revenue generated in 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 has been between 179 and 235 crore.
AICTE chairman Anil D Sahasrabudhe said, "The drop in the earnings in the fees and subscriptions is due to the cut in the fee for annual approvals. We have also cut the penalty to close down institutions."
He said, "In 2014-15, dues for 2013-14 were also collected and that is why the amount reflects as 220 crore." But, the dues would not be the only reason for the drop in collection because in 2011-12, 179 crore was collected and in 2012-13 212 crore was collected. While there is a sharp drop in the revenue of AICTE in 2015-16, Sahasrabudhe indicates a further drop in the coming years. He said, "We are going to award multiple-year approval grants for institutions. This will prevent top colleges from applying for the approval every year." Colleges with autonomous status or those with 50% or more courses accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) will be given multiple-year approval. "The validity of the approval will depend on the validity of the autonomous status of the NBA accreditation," he added. The AICTE has identified nearly 400 colleges that are eligible for the multiple-year approval grant this year. "This will encourage many institutions to get their courses accredited with NBA and try to become autonomous," the AICTE chairman said.
When asked if this drop in the revenue generation would affect the functioning of AICTE, Sahasrabudhe said, "As of now, the expenditure of AICTE is around 80 crore per year. This will increase due to the seventh pay commission as salaries will be hiked and travel expenses will shoot up. But, the decision to cut down on earnings will not affect the expenditure."
The regulatory body received 19.05 crore through examination in 2014-15 and 10.33 crore in 2015-16. The AICTE has been conducting GPAT (graduate pharmacy aptitude test) and CMAT (common management admission test) since 2014.