The Class Divide

The last decade has seen proliferation of IIMs. Not all are equally equipped to make a mark.

- E. Kumar Sharma

Call it mindless proliferation or an attempt to take high-quality management education to all corners of the country, the rapid expansion of Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in the last few years has given policymakers a lot to think about, especially the need to review the way these new institutes, some of which are struggling to make a mark, are supported.

The older IIMs were set up almost a decade apart – IIM-C and IIM-A in 1961, IIM-B in 1973, IIM Lucknow in 1984, IIM Kozhikode and Indore in 1996 and IIM Shillong in 2005. In comparison, six IIMs took off in 2010/11 and another seven in 2015/16, taking the total tally to 20 IIMs. While the new schools are handheld by the older institutes, it is not the same as starting out with a rich legacy. Plus, not all are equally equipped to handle challenges.

Location Disadvantage

Some of the new IIMs have to overcome the challenge of location as they are not in big cities where attracting talent is easier. For instance, Kashipur in Uttarakhand, though a regional industrial hub, is not very easily accessible by either air or road. Even Sirmaur in Himachal Pradesh, which became the site of an IIM in 2015, is a couple of hours drive from the nearest airports at Chandigarh or Dehradun.

There is also the challenge of adding high quality faculty. According to a well-established norm, there is one faculty member for every 10-odd students, which means if the oldest IIMs have around 100 faculty members, those set up in 2010/11 would have 35-40 and the ones set up in 2015/16 around 20. Plus, the newer IIMs, unlike the older ones, are unable to leverage the alumni network, which also plays a role in the level of engagement with industry. Some newer IIMs have tried to deal with this by creatively looking at ways to attract faculty such as connecting with local industry or by encouraging research.