National Insurance Academy plans expansion to meet rising demand

The National Insurance Academy (NIA), now situated in Pune, was established jointly by the ministry of finance and all the major public sector undertakings (PSUs) in insurance. Originally a training institute for insurance industry professionals, it has been offering a postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM) since 2004 and has placed 100% of its students all through.

- Atul Krishna

Sanjay Mali, principal of PGDM at NIA, spoke to Atul Krishna about the unique position of the institute in the insurance industry, its PGDM course, and its plans to increase student intake, course offerings and off-campus activities. Edited excerpts from the conversation

Q. Could you tell us a bit about the institute its history and how it came to be?

A. The journey of the National Insurance Academy is very different. It came to be when the ministry of finance and Government of India decided that there should be a training institute for executives in the insurance sector. That's how the institute was started. But later on, realising that the infrastructure was available, they started the PGDM programme in 2004. The main purpose was to provide education, training and research in the field of insurance.

This institute was set up by all the PSUs Life Insurance Corporation, New India Insurance, Oriental Insurance. So right from the beginning, this PGDM programme had the backing of the industry. If you look at the governing board of the institute, the chairperson of LIC is the chairperson of our governing board.

Q. How many students do you have? And how much do you charge?

A. The last two years, we had an intake capacity of 180. But from this year, we will have 120 students. This is because we are considering the introduction of some programmes that are in the pipeline. So, we decided to keep it to 120 right now.

Regarding the fees, we have not increased it in the last four or five years. Currently, it is Rs 12 lakh for the two-year programme, including hostel facilities.

Q. Which courses are in the pipeline?