ICFAI to set up 25 more B-schools

The country's largest private university, the ICFAI University, is planning to set up another 25 business schools across the country by the next academic year.

"At present we have nine national collages, of which eight are in Andhra Pradesh. We plan to set up another 25 national collages outside Andhra Pradesh," R.Prasad, Dean, the ICFAI University, told media persons here on Thursday.

During the next academic year ICFAI will start four business schools at Dehradoon, Kochi, Indore and Jaipur, he said. The ICFAI University is welcoming the University Grants Commission's new guidelines to enable the maintenance of standards in private universities in the country, he said.

"Conservative estimates of demand for higher education indicate that there will be a need for creating an additional capacity of eight to 10 million college seats in the next 10 years, but the nation today has 10,000 colleges, which enroll nearly eight million students per annum. So it is imperative that the private sector participates in a big way in catering to this demand," Prasad said.

"At present, ICFAI University is the largest private university in the country and the university's budget is expected to touch Rs140 crore," he added.