The challenges and opportunities for Indian B-schools - Dr. Atish Chattopadhyay, Director - IMT Ghaziabad

B-schools need to come up to speed in quality assurance, industry alignment, and global competitiveness

India is home to 3,500 management institutions, reflecting its diverse and expanding business education sector. Despite this, only a few institutions enjoy global recognition. Among these, just 29 are internationally accredited by AACSB and EQUIS, and only 14 feature in the Financial Times rankings. This underscores a dichotomy between quantity and quality, as many institutions struggle to meet global standards.

Indian business schools operate in a competitive market, with top-tier institutions remaining highly selective. Nearly 3,29,000 applicants vie for about 10,000 seats annually at premier institutions like the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). Historically, these schools had little incentive to seek global accreditation or visibility. However, globalisation has made international recognition crucial for their credibility and growth.

Management education in India began in 1953 with the establishment of the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management in Calcutta. This was followed by IIM Calcutta and IIM Ahmedabad in 1961, supported by the Ford Foundation in collaboration with global leaders like MIT Sloan School of Management and Harvard Business School. These institutions laid the foundation for India’s management education sector, with other IIMs established in Bengaluru (1973), Lucknow (1984), Kozhikode (1996), and Indore (1998).

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