IIM Rohtak CAG audit flags 35% fee hike, Rs 7.49 crore faculty payout and governance lapses

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has raised financial, faculty and governance lapses at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Rohtak. The audit report released on August 12 showed that the institute’s average annual student fee was increased by 35 percent between 2018 to 2019, and 2024 to 2025.

Many gaps were found in budgeting, recruitment documentation, and institutional oversight. Azib Ahmed reports that the audit committee has also raised concerns over faculty incentives, with Rs 3.2 crore variable pay being given to Dheeraj Sharma, IIM Rohtak director.

The CAG also identified multiple irregularities in the composition and functioning of the board of governors, including lapses in member selection, tenure, and mandatory representation. The audit report said that the board did not meet several prescribed criteria for the faculty, Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and women members.

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CAG questions financial planning

The average annual fee per student rose from Rs 6.40 lakh in 2018 to 2019 to Rs 8.64 lakh in 2024 to 2025. During the same period, academic receipts from Master of Business Administration (MBA) courses, Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP), Integrated Programme in Management (IPM), and Integrated Programme in Law (IPL) went up from Rs 31.57 crore to Rs 125.91 crore, which is a 299 percent increase.

Despite the increase in receipts, IIM Rohtak did not prepare annual budgets to estimate the income and expenditure, Azib Ahmed highlighted. Budgeting was essential for financial requirements and rationalising fees, the CAG said.

IIM Rohtak said that it had become fully self-financed from 2019 and maintained fees among the lowest in the IIM system. It also claimed that around 15% of the students received merit-based scholarships. CAG questioned the high surpluses and the lack of a clear financial planning system.

The institute also did not provide any evidence that the board had approved its development plan of governors or that funding sources or timelines had been finalised for the proposed expenditure of Rs 410 crore.

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IIM Rohtak: CAG identifies governance gaps

The audit committee found that IIM Rohtak paid Rs 7.49 crore to its faculty members as incentives and honorarium. Of this Rs 4.11 crore was paid as additional teaching, executive education and consultancy, while Rs 3.38 crore covered activities such as admissions, question-paper setting and evaluation. CAG reported that in six cases, the payments exceeded 100% of the faculty member’s regular remuneration.

According to the CAG reports, the institute's rules did not clearly define the financial limits of such payments. Azib Ahmed reported that faculty members also received high-value items like iPhones, iPads, laptops, treadmills and fitness equipment worth Rs 58.32 lakhs during 2020 to 2022.

The audit further found that IIM Rohtak even lacked category-wise recruitment data for SC, ST, Other Backward Classes (OBC), and Economically Weaker Section (EWS). Records of twenty-seven faculty members were not shared with the auditors.

The CAG report also flagged many board of governors-related irregularities, including prolonged vacancies in reserved-category representation, and faculty members continuing beyond their terms. It also stated that changes to twenty-eight ministry-approved regulations were made without any prior approval from the education ministry.

The academic council had no external experts from 2017 to 2024, weakening independent academic oversight, CAG said. Another issue was pointed out by CAG, stating that the estimated cost of an air-conditioning project was revised upward after the bidding to narrow the gap with the bidder’s quote, without supporting market analysis.