On April 14, the Indian School of Business opened its campus in Mohali — a significant event for both the business school and Punjab, its host state. For ISB — the youngest institute to make it to the top 20 global business schools according to rankings by the Financial Times — this is its first expansion after it began operating from its Hyderabad campus in 2001. For Punjab, this will be the state’s first ‘blue-chip’ business school, after it lost the race for an Indian Institute of Management to Haryana. Having ISB at Mohali would also benefit the industries in the state, especially through interactions with the business school’s international faculty, believes Savita Mahajan, chief executive of the Mohali campus. The institute is already training women entrepreneurs from the region, selected under the Women Entrepreneurs Development Programme under the aegis of the ‘Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative’.
The beginning
It was on the encouragement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that four industrialists from Punjab — Max India Group Chairman Analjit Singh, Hero Corporate Service Chairman Sunil Kant Munjal, Bharti Enterprises Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Rakesh Bharti Mittal and Punj Lloyd Group Chairman Atul Punj — came forward to set up ISB’s second campus in Mohali. The agreement was signed in 2008, and the construction began in 2010.
The new campus, spread over 70 acres in Knowledge City, has come up with an investment of Rs 250 crore, and will take in 210 students, to be increased to 1,000 eventually. ISB’s flagship post-graduate programme (PGP) will be delivered simultaneously across the two campuses at Hyderabad and Mohali. The PGP class of 2013 will have 770 students, of which 210 will be at the Mohali. Mohali Campus Advisory Board Chairman Analjit Singh says the postgraduate programme in management is for 51 weeks, as opposed to two years in most B-schools. The campus will be expanded in the next three years with an additional Rs 100 crore. The Mohali campus will also get support from the Kellogg School of Management and London School of Business.
In a nod to the founding board members, the institute has four specialised centres in Mohali — the Max Institute of Healthcare Management, the Munjal Global Manufacturing Institute, the Bharti Institute of Public Policy and the Punj Lloyd Institute of Physical Infrastructure Management.
Max Institute of Healthcare Management will impart skills to students through a healthcare specialisation offered in the PGP programme while the Munjal Global Manufacturing Institute will focus on nurturing manufacturing excellence and innovation. Bharti Institute of Public Policy will promote research and full-time courses in public policy to create a talent pool to facilitate policy-making in various areas. Punj Lloyd Institute of Physical Infrastructure Management is looking to play a critical role in generating a pool of skilled managers, not just to meet domestic requirements but also to address the global skills shortage.
The Mohali campus is equipped with lecture theatres, a 500-seater auditorium, high definition video conferencing facilities, seamless access to digital and online library resources and cashless payments through smart cards, among other things. The buildings adhere to the latest international building code and educational-facility-operating standards, while the campus is designed to meet the sustainability criteria to get LEED Gold (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.