'IIM-L to add 45 seats for OBC students'

on the summer placements and the institute's future plans. Excerpts:

IIM-Lucknow saw very good summer placements this year with 80 companies participating in the recruitment process. What trends did you see?

IIM-L's placements have always grown in variety and depth. The placement curve has been steeply rising over the years. This time, we had 20 international internships and also a lot of banking and consultancy firms came to campus. IIM-L works hard on the recognition of its institute's graduates and the placements are a result of this.

Can you give us an update on IIM-L's Noida campus?

We have a class of 60 at the Noida campus at present and a faculty strength of four professors. The program is in demand and to meet this growth, we intend to increase the faculty strength. In a year's time we plan to increase the faculty strength from four to 15.

Does IIM-L face a faculty shortage problem?

Right now, the institute is not facing a faculty shortage problem. We do not face problems in attracting the right faculty. I must, however add that shortage of faculty is a generic problem that plagues most business schools in the country.

In fact, one of the reasons for starting the Noida campus was to give good faculty members a choice of location. Noida is very close to Delhi and a metro is a far better location for professors since it helps them stay close to their families.

Would you be hiring more faculty at your IIM Lucknow campus as well?

Yes we will be increasing faculty strength from 62 professors at present to 80 by next year.

Does this mean an increase in the number of seats as well?

Yes, we will be adding 45 seats next year mostly to accommodate OBC students when the reservation for OBC's in private colleges becomes applicable next year.

Isn't it true that B-schools have not been able to attract the right faculty because of the low salary levels of professors in India? In China, universities have started luring Chinese professors abroad by offering them the same salary levels. Should Indian B-schools consider a similar strategy?

Low salary levels of professors is a larger macro issue. I agree that remuneration of Indian professors is not commensurate. However, salary levels of professors in India cannot be compared with the western benchmarks.

The average salary of an IIM professor is somewhere around Rs 7 lakhs per annum. We cannot just raise the salaries to the international levels. The issue has to be given deeper thought.

Do you think we have enough B-schools in India?

It really depends on the way you look at it. We do have enough schools in terms of numbers but in terms of top B-schools there is a shortage.

What is your view on foreign institutes setting up offshore campuses in India?

It is a good move. Competition from foreign schools will help in improving the quality of education. However, the government needs to come out with a clear policy on this. Certain precautions like ensuring affordability of the foreign schools will have to be taken.