Foreign B-schools learn Indian business

Top institutes send students for hands-on training.

A large number of students from globally renowned business-schools are landing on Indian shores for on-the-job training with Indian companies.

Even high-brow institutes from the US, including Harvard University, University of Philadelphia and Stanford University, are sending their students to India to get a hang of the country's corporate scenario.

This is happening at a time when Indian business-schools, like the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), are planning to send their students to China for hands-on training.

An executive with Tata Consultancy Services said: "Recently, a group of around 30 students from one of the most reputed B-schools in the US was in our office. The students were shown how managers functioned in Indian software companies and were updated on the country's burgeoning software sector."

IIM-Ahmedabad Director Bakul Dholakia is not surprised with this trend. "With India being considered one of the four biggest economies in the world in next 10-15 years, this was bound to happen. International business-schools have now started understanding the importance of exposing their students to such a huge market."

"We are planning to send our students to China when we launch the course in 2006-07. A decade later, companies based in the US and Europe will have to do a lot of business with India and so management students should be provided with hands-on training on the Indian market," he added.

"Earlier, only Indian students used to go abroad for such exposure but now the trend is changing," said a faculty member of IIM Calcutta.

Ankit Miglani, director of the Rs 2,000 crore steel manufacturer Uttam Galva, said, "Recently, we had a team of 30 management students from the University of Philadelphia visiting our plant in Khopoli near Mumbai as part of their curriculum."

Miglani said he would welcome more such batches as his company exports to over 110 countries around the world.

An executive of a Bangalore-based software major said: "We are getting many offers from international B-schools to get their students acquainted with the Indian market and industry. B-schools in the US and Europe have now started giving importance to the Indian market. Even a year back, there hardly used to be such visits."

Apart from software, pharmaceuticals and health care are the major areas that global institutes are looking at. Recently, a team of management students from the US visited Johnson & Johnson's plants in India.