Punjab Newspaper

The Punjab Government today signed an agreement to set up an Indian School of Business (ISB) in the Knowledge City in SAS Nagar (Mohali).
The agreement was signed by Anjali Bhawra, Secretary Higher Education on behalf of the Punjab Government and Rajat Gupta on behalf of ISB along with four Founder Supporters Analjit Singh of Max India Ltd, Rakesh Bharti Mittal of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil K Munjal of Hero Corporate Services Ltd and Atul Punj of Punj Lloyd Ltd. to establish this premier management institute of excellence at Mohali.
Giving details, a spokesperson of the Punjab Government stated that the prestigious Institute will be established under a unique model of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) whereby the State Government would be leasing out 70 acres of land in Knowledge City in Sector 81, Mohali for a period of 99 years at a rate of Re 1/- per acre annually to ISB to establish the second campus of ISB with the support of the four Founder Supporters.
The Founder Supporters, leading corporate houses with strong linkages to Punjab, would be contributing a sum of Rs. 50 crore each i.e. a total of Rs. 200 crore towards the establishment of ISB’s second campus at Mohali.  Besides the Management Institute, the Mohali campus of ISB will also have four specialized institutes termed as Centers of Excellence, for promoting research and offering the following additional specializations in the Post Graduate Programme - Max India Institute of Healthcare Management; Bharti Institute of Public Policy; Hero Institute of Manufacturing Sciences; and Punj Lloyd Institute of Physical Infrastructure Management. These institutes would focus on doing research, developing teaching material and engaging in policy dialogue in their respective areas.
The first Academic Session at the ISB Campus in Mohali is expected to commence in 2012. The Campus proposes to have 280 seats in its Post Graduate Management Programme and 750 seats in its Executive Education Programme.
Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal termed the signing of the Agreement as a “red-letter day” for Punjab and hoped that ISB would be the harbinger of growth of quality higher education in the State. He thanked the ISB management as well the four Founder Supporters who had underscored their strong ties with the State through their investment and commitment in this Project. The proposed educational cluster in the Knowledge City would prove to be a gateway for the youth of this region for accessing quality higher education, said the Chief Minister.
Mr. Rajat Gupta, Chairman of Board of Governors of ISB expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister and assured the State Government that the ISB at Mohali would be developed as “flagship institution”. He thanked the 4 Founder Supporters for their generous endowments for the project.
Established by some of the well known industry and academic leaders around the world to meet the growing need for management talent in India and the Asian region, the ISB has emerged in the last decade as a world-class business school. The vision of the ISB is to be an internationally top-ranked, research-driven management institution that grooms leaders for India and the world. The ISB has academic associations with the world’s leading business schools like Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. The ISB is supported by some of the best professionals in the world. Its Governing Body consists of heads of some of the Fortune 500 companies. The Executive Board (Board of Directors) comprises of some of India’s most successful entrepreneurs and business leaders. The high quality of ISB’s education is attested by the record-breaking placements which they have been able to achieve within a short span of six years. Its Centre for Executive Education is the largest executive education provider in India and has been attracting senior and top management professionals from India’s leading private and public sector companies. All these factors put together have helped the ISB achieve one more laurel: 20th rank in the World MBA rankings brought out by Financial Times, London. It is the first Indian School to have achieved this distinction and possibly the youngest school in the world to enter this league.
The ISB will offer the same one-year Post-Graduate Programme (PGP) in Management at Mohali with additional specializations in Healthcare Management, Manufacturing Sciences, Public Policy and Physical Infrastructure Management among others. Like Hyderabad, the ISB campus at Mohali will also be a residential programme. The internationally acclaimed ISB faculty will be available for teaching on both campuses and faculty recruiting would also be common. Similarly, student admissions would be common to both campuses, to ensure no dilution in quality. Since it would be vital that the high standards of quality and culture of excellence prevalent at the ISB be retained intact at both the campuses, the ISB leadership team would have complete autonomy in academic decision making regarding the aspects of quality of faculty, quality of students, curriculum design and research agenda at the ISB-M’s functioning.
In addition, all standards and processes would be common in both the campuses of ISB. The ISB campus at Mohali would lead the ISB efforts to establish close linkages with other academic institutions proposed as part of the Knowledge City and those situated elsewhere in Punjab. Given the ISB’s experience in creating a world-class management institution in India and the support and commitment of the four Founder Supporters, the Punjab Government is confident of replicating the success of the Hyderabad campus in the ISB’s campus at Mohali.
Among the prominent who were present on the occasion included Bikram Singh Majithia Information & Public Relations Minister, Prof. JS Bajaj Vice-Chairman Punjab State Planning Board, Mohinder Kaur Josh, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Education), Harcharan Bains Media Advisor to CM, Ramesh Inder Singh Chief Secretary, Pawan Kant Munjal of Hero Group, Secretary Housing & Urban Development Arun Goel and Dean ISB M. Rammohan Rao.