Ahmedabad: Amidst the ongoing furore over Government's decision to slash fees of IIMs (Indian Institute of Management) by about 80 per cent, IIM-Ahmedabad sources today (Feb 15, 2004) said the institute has received no grant from the Government this fiscal and only 30 per cent of its total expenditure was funded by the Government in 2002-03.

IIM sources confirmed that the institute has received no money so far from the Government in 2003-04 and has been managing its finances from its internal resources.

"The institute already provides 50 per cent subsidy to each student. To finance this subsidy, the faculty is involved in management development programmes and providing consultancy to various organisations. Besides, IIM-A has a corpus, interest on which is also utilised for funding the institute's financial needs," sources said.

They said IIM-A was set up jointly by the Central and State Governments besides some corporate houses and the Board of Governors of this institute comprises of representatives from each of these sections of the society, they said adding nevertheless, it was an autonomous body.

As per the charter of the Board, it will be the Board which will decide on student fees and this decision cannot be taken by the Government.

Among the members of the Board of this prestigious institute are Infosys chairman N R Narayana Murthy, HLL (Hindustan Lever Limited) chairman M S Banga, ICICI (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India) chief K V Kamath, Reliance Industries vice-chairman Anil Ambani, A V Birla group's Kumaramangalam Birla and HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation) chief Deepak Parekh.