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Cabinet okays 7 new IIMs, bonanza for Rajasthan

NEW DELHI : On August 27 the Union cabinet approved the setting up of seven new Indian Institutes of Management in the country, paving the way for government plans to launch four of them later this year.

Briefing reporters here on the Cabinet decision, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said that the new IIMs will be set up in Trichy (Tamil Nadu), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Rohtak (Haryana), Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan. None of them, however, will offer the flagship postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM) this year and will instead offer short-term courses in mid-career skills for working executives.

The government had initially promised six new IIMs — one each in Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir. But Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s speech during the interim budget on February 25 this year erroneously promised an IIM to Rajasthan, too.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the government decided to take on the extra burden of starting an additional IIM instead of risking voter anger.

The IIMs at Trichy, Ranchi, Raipur and Rohtak will come up in the first phase and the classes would start from the 2010-11 academic year. The other three in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan will get operational from 2011-12. The exact locations in these states are yet to be decided.

Ambika Soni said an allocation of Rs 451 crore as non-recurring expenditure and Rs.118 crore as recurring expenditure has been sanctioned for the first phase. The total requirement of funds for establishment of seven new IIMs during the 11th Five Year Plan is Rs 1,057 crores, she revealed.

PIB Background:

The XI Five Year Plan endorsed by the National Development Council (NDC) in December 2007, envisaged, inter alia, establishment of seven new IIMs in the country, out of which one IIM namely Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management (RGIIM), Shillong has already been established in Shillong (Meghalaya) commencing its first academic session from 2008-2009.

In the first phase, four IIMs at Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Raipur (Chhattishargh) and Rohtak (Haryana) will be set up in 2009-10, which would become functional from academic session 2010-11. Postgraduate Programme (PGP) in Management would be the flagship programme though in the first year several executive programmes including those in the public policy domain focusing on civic and municipal services etc. would be started. In the second phase, the rest of 3 IIMs will be set up in Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan in 2010-11. In phase-I there would be intake of 140 students in the PGP course and by the end of phase-II, it would reach 560 students per year. Admission shall be through the Common Admission Test (CAT).

The Institutes would also contribute to generation of a highly competent and trained manpower which would be a major catalyst for developing a knowledge society that would inevitably impact on the economic growth of the country. Apart from this, research in management and emerging areas would evolve a potential for generating significant intellectual properties that would generate sizeable revenue.

The Cabinet has also approved an outlay of Rs 451 crore (Rs 333 crore for non-recurring expenditure and Rs.118 crores for recurring expenditure) in the XI FYP and XII FYP for each IIM. The projected outlay for XI Five Year Plan for each of the 4 IIMs to be established during 2009-10 is Rs.166 crore (Rs.135 crore for non-recurring expenditure and Rs.31 crore for recurring expenditure). For the remaining three IIMs to be set up during 2010-11, the requirement for XI Plan would be Rs.131 crores each (Rs 107 crore non-recurring and Rs 24 crore recurring expenditure). The total requirement of funds for establishment of seven new IIMs during XI Plan works out to Rs.1057 crores.

Postgraduate Programme in Management would be the flagship programme. It is proposed that in phase-I there would be an intake of 140 students in the PGP course and by the end of Phase-II, it would reach 560 students per year. These trained personnel will join the skilled manpower pool of the country each year.

Locations of IIMs in Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan are yet to be decided.

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