The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta may raise placement fees from the present level of Rs 15,000 per candidate to the industry level of a fee equivalent to one or two months' salary to make up the deficit in fee-based income caused by the reduction of IIM fees to Rs 30,000 under the directions of the Union human resource development ministry.

The IIM Controversy: Complete Coverage

"Indian and foreign companies benefit from the Indian Institute of Management as they get world-class managers for a negligible fee, so it is only fair that they pay proper fees for the managers they recruit," IIM-C Board Chairman Y C Deveshwar said at his first formal meeting with the media after the IIM-C board came to grips with the fee reduction issue.

Deveshwar, who is also chairman of ITC Ltd, said his company for one would not mind paying a proper fee of a month's salary or so for the managers it recruited. The proposal if implemented would raise funds of anything between Rs 2.5 crore (Rs 25 million) and Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) if the placement data for 2004 are anything to go by.

"About 30 per cent of the recruiters were turned away," said the chairman, indicating the scope for further adjustment of fees charged from corporates in a situation where demand exceeds supply.

Deveshwar will meet the faculty on April 16 to discuss the resolution he circulated yesterday on accepting the reduction of fees subject to the autonomy of the IIM being protected and any Supreme Court ruling on the issue. He had sought a meeting on April 9 but the date was not convenient for the IIMC faculty.

In a parallel development, a group at IIMC is drafting a governance document to reform and clarify the roles of stakeholders. "Work on the document started a year ago and the first draft has been circulated, the next step is to reform the Memorandum of Association, which was drafted in 1961, as the outside environment has changed," Deveshwar said.

IIMC would seek to achieve the change through dialogue and not through confrontation, he indicated. Deveshwar pointed out that the IIMC's student placements in 2004 had witnessed average domestic salaries of Rs 7.05 lakh per annum and a median foreign salary of $70,000 per annum (Rs 31.5 lakh).

The highest domestic salary was Rs 14 lakh. The highest foreign salary was $1,20,000. There was a 26 per cent increase in the foreign salary offered. The IIMC batch size was 242, the largest across all premier business schools.

In all, 83 companies made a total of 332 offers. Some firms were unable to recruit as the entire batch had already been placed.

The number of companies recruiting from IIMC for positions overseas increased from seven last year to 11 this year, leading to a rise in the number of foreign offers made on campus.

Its lateral placement programme for students with significant work experience was a success, as a larger number of recruiters at 23 made 58 offers, including some positions abroad, despite fewer students.