M A I N   N E W S

IIM-B plans to expand globally
Jangveer Singh
Tribune News Service

Bangalore, January 20
The Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, today set in motion a plan to enable it to carry out its expansion in Singapore and other foreign countries. The institute, whose Board of Governor’s met here today, said the board had approved a decision to change the Memorandum of Association (MoA) of the institute so that it could go ahead with the establishment of a Singapore campus.

Institute Director Prakash G. Apte disclosed after the meeting that it also planned to open up campuses in Indonesia and Thailand. The institute would take its plan to Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh on February 1. Before this on January 31, the Board of Governors of the institute would meet in Delhi to work out the necessary changes in the MoA.

Mr Apte said the MoA of the institute, which had been signed in 1973 at the time of its establishment, did not include a clause about expanding of activities outside the country.

He said the IIM-B would, for the moment, have a virtual presence in Singapore rather than a physical one. He said the institute would be beginning with a part-time MBA programme for executives.

The Director disclosed that the student intake in the institute would also be changed. It said the intake would be increased to 270 in 2006 and probably to 300 in 2007.

The IIM- Bangalore’s plans for a campus in Singapore today received a fillip from India Inc, which requested the Union Government to reconsider its decision, saying the expansion plans would not be at the cost of domestic expansion.

An Assochem release disclosed that 85 per cent of the 150 CEOs and MDs who had been surveyed were clear that global expansion would enhance the brand equity of the IIM and add to the reputation of students passing out from the IIMs.