Amid the raging controversy over the slashing of Indian Institute of Management fees, Reliance Group Chairman Mukesh Ambani said that in an era of access to money, users must learn to pay for education.

"Access to money is available for IIM students; companies are standing with bags of money, users should learn to pay," he said at a seminar organised by India Today Group in New Delhi.

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India has one of the largest educational systems in the world. There are 272 universities and about 2,400 colleges for professional education in India, Ambani said. "But they are caught up in one of the most rigid and highly controlled education systems in the world," he said.

"From curriculum, student strength, admissions, faculty salaries to student fees, virtually every single aspect of the university system is regulated. The challenge is how to enhance capacity, but autonomy is critical for the sustenance of any institution," he said.

Ambani's remarks assume significance in the backdrop of the opposition to the slashing of fees by Infosys chief N R Narayana Murthy and Hindustan Lever Chief M S Banga.

He also emphasised on the need for a government-private sector partnership to offer quality education and said that it was the market which would be in a much better position to deliver it.

Terming the existing education system in India as 'much like the licence raj of yesteryears,' Ambani said there was an emerging divide between well-appointed private schools and the mass of government-funded schools.

"Education is at the root of almost every major issue that India faces -- from population growth, poverty, deprivation, social tolerance to civic sense," he said, adding that "India needs a new paradigm in education -- from education for employment to education for empowerment."

"For this, we must build an overarching educational infrastructure and provide resources on a grand scale," he added.