1. What are the unique strengths or focus areas that set IIM Calcutta apart from other IIMs?
The wide pool of distinguished alumni in national and global workspaces of corporate governance and other fields is the biggest strength of the institute. IIM Calcutta has been the first Indian institute to obtain the triple crown AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS accreditation status and has also been reaccredited, which is rare among Indian business schools. The institute is also the only Indian member of CEMS, a global alliance of 33 business schools, multinational companies, and NGOs offering the CEMS Master in International Management. The interdisciplinarity and inter-institutional programmes like PGDBA with ISI Kolkata and IIT Kharagpur and PGP VLMP with IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras, and JICA are also unique. IIM Calcutta started the first Financial Research and Trading Lab in the country with Bloomberg terminals for real-time market data and trading simulators, enabling hands-on exposure to markets and strengthening the institute in the finance domain.
2. How is your institute supporting the holistic development of students beyond academics?
As they say in Latin, ‘Mens sana in corpore sano’ meaning ‘A healthy mind in a healthy body.’ This captures the balance of academics with sports, recreation, and well-being. The promotion of sports, physical fitness, and participation in fests and tournaments helps students cultivate time management, strategic thinking, communication, and collaborative skills. I have always believed and practised that an educational institution is ‘of’ the student. Students are the purpose of its existence. Taking complete ownership of the students is the responsibility of the institute. An attempt is being made to strengthen both the hardware and software of the institute; from classroom and hostel infrastructure to digital and data infrastructure, all are being worked upon. Digital evaluation is an outcome students have been asking for, so we have developed our own AI platform for evaluation. We have also registered on the National Academic Depository, and from this academic year, we will provide mark sheets and degrees to students’ Digilockers.
3. How is the IIM Calcutta Innovation Park shaping the institute’s role in supporting entrepreneurship, especially in Eastern India?
IIM Calcutta is dedicated to the creation, collation, and dissemination of knowledge on entrepreneurship and innovation. The IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP) is a not-for-profit (Section 8) company established under the aegis of IIM Calcutta with the broad objective to actively foster innovation and socially impactful entrepreneurs, enabling livelihood creation. They recently hosted the TATA Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC) in a collaborative endeavour with TATA Sons. IIMCIP is largely concentrating on furthering social entrepreneurship, and I am planning to further serve this purpose by strengthening entrepreneurial spirit among our students.
4. Are you introducing any new academic programmes? If so, what gaps or needs are they designed to address?
IIM Calcutta has five full-time programmes: MBA, MBA Executive, PGDBA, PGPX VLMP, and the Doctoral programme. Continuous curricular innovation ensures programmes remain aligned with real-world needs, and helps students adapt to a rapidly evolving world. We have recently started the Executive Doctoral programme and are going to start programmes such as the MBA in Design with the National Institute of Design and the MBA in Healthcare with a premier government medical institute. We are also going to start Artificial Intelligence-based certificate, diploma, and degree programmes from our upcoming centre of online education with a leading global software company. We are reengineering our VLMP and PGDBA programmes and contemplating an international collaborator. Work has begun on a new programme on Entrepreneurship with a leading US university. An MBA in capital markets is being worked on with the National Stock Exchange, Mumbai.
5. As the only Indian member of the CEMS network, how is IIM Calcutta using global partnerships to expand academic and career opportunities for students?
Among the 5 “I” principles of IIM Calcutta, the principle of Internationalisation is very important for the sustenance and overall growth of the institute. As a step towards its vision of becoming an International Centre of Excellence in Management Education, IIMC is in the club of 33 premier business schools from across the world as an academic partner and the only Indian member. Students in the CEMS MIM programme spend a term or more in at least one partner institution abroad. This mobility helps them understand different business cultures, widen their network, and gain first-hand international experience. CEMS builds a bridge between academia and industry via its Corporate Partners such as the Adani group, which we recently onboarded. There are around 70 Corporate Partners, 8 Social Partners, and over 21,500 alumni of 100+ nationalities, offering mentoring, referrals, and networking for career growth.
6. Where do you see India in 2050, and what role do you see your institute playing towards the same vision?
India is striving hard to be developed as a ‘Viksit Bharat’. We, as an institute of national importance, have a role to play in not just strengthening the intellectual infrastructure of the country by providing highly skilled human resources, but also in contributing towards policy formation and addressing social and economic disparity as a way of meeting national developmental goals. Strong academics rooted in contemporary needs and developed around dynamic and effective essentials of innovative pedagogy, leading towards research-based innovative outcomes, is something that IIM Calcutta is equipping itself for.