New Delhi — An Indian industry group has estimated that students here spend $2.3-billion annually on coaching to prepare for the entrance tests to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology and other engineering colleges, The Times of India reported today.

“The amount of money which goes to these institutions is enough to open 30 to 40 IIT’s with lots of seats that can ensure admission to average candidates,” Sajjan Jindal, president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told the newspaper. Mr. Jindal urged the deregulation of Indian higher education, saying that the chief beneficiaries of the current system are big coaching centers.

A spokesman for the industry group said its figures were based on the assumption that 600,000 students attend coaching classes every year and that the average cost per student is $3,950. At least half the students who sit for the exams use coaching centers to beat the cutthroat competition, the spokesman said. A record 320,000 applicants took the entrance exam for the elite IIT undergraduate engineering program in April.

Some 80,000 to 90,000 students go abroad for higher education, leading to a high foreign-exchange outflow, the industry group said. “If quality institutions are provided, a large number of students will stay back and contribute to the nation,” the group said, adding that private players and big industrial groups should be allowed to contribute to higher education. —Shailaja Neelakantan