IIM Bodh Gaya to start classes from present 2015-16 Academic Session itself

The much awaited Indian Institute of Management (IIM) at Bodh Gaya in Bihar is all set to begin its Academic Session from the present 2015-16 academic year itself. This was announced in a statement from Prime Minister’s Office in New Delhi yesterday. IIM Bodh Gaya would start its operations from a makeshift campus in the premises of Magadh University.

The Institute will start with an intake of 140 students in the Post Graduate Programme (PGP) courses. It is expected that the annual intake will increase to reach a level of 560 students each year by the end of seven years.

The PGP in Management would be the flagship programme of these institutions. Admission to the PGP will be through the open and competitive Common Admission Test (CAT) being conducted by the IIMs.

The Institute would train young graduates to undertake management responsibilities and carry out research and consultancy in the field of management and allied areas. These programmes will provide the country, potential leaders in diverse fields of endeavour and enterprise.

A permanent campus for the IIM Bodh Gaya is likely to come up at neighbourhood. The State Government has already finalized a 150 acre chunk of land for this purpose and the Union HRD Ministry has approved it, according to reports.

IIM Indore would be roped in as the mentor institute for the proposed institute. However, it would be fully autonomous institute running its own courses and awarding its own degrees. Earlier the Centre wanted IIM Calcutta to be the mentor, however this could not be agreed upon.

Apart from Bodh Gaya, 5 other IIMs would start functioning this year including those at Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Sambalpur (Odisha) and Amritsar (Punjab). At present there are 13 IIMs located in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Lucknow, Indore, Kozhikode, Shillong, Rohtak, Raipur, Ranchi, Tiruchirappalli, Kashipur (Uttarakhand) and Udaipur.

Gaya emerged as a natural choice for setting up of IIM as it has a fully operational International Airport, besides being a tourist hub. The Gaya Airport is nearly four times bigger as compared to Patna Airport. It also has a good Rail as well as Road connectivity. The NH2, which is a part of Golden quadrilateral, also passes through Gaya.