With the number of Central government-promoted Indian Institutes of Management having multiplied to 20, there is considerable interest within the public to ascertain the extent to which brand rub-off of the pioneer ABC IIMs has boosted the rankings of new IIMs. Therefore government B-schools have been included in this years EW league table – Dilip Thakore Even if reports on the growth and trajectory of the Indian economy are mixed, the country’s B-schools scene is jumping. Although India’s vintage ABC (Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta) Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), promoted by the Central government and established on sprawling campuses in the 1960s, continue to dominate the annual rating and ranking league tables of almost all media publications, it is pertinent to note that the total number of IIMs has risen to 20. However these latter day IIMs are facing stiff competition from privately promoted B-schools which have mushroomed countrywide. This is likely to be apparent to readers who peruse the EducationWorld India B-schools Rankings 2018-19 league table in which IIMs A, B and C occupy pride of place this year. In the previous two years, IIMs were not ranked because they routinely dominated all media rankings of B-schools. However with the number of IIMs having multiplied to 20, there is considerable interest within the public to ascertain the extent to which brand rub-off of the ABC IIMs has boosted the rankings of new IIMs. Not much, as great institutions aren’t built by government decrees, even if they are described as IIMs. The plain truth is that the great majority of the new IIMs haven’t been provided proper premises and are suffering severe faculty shortages. Therefore apart from IIM-Lucknow (estb.1984) which is ranked a commendable #4 with the highest rating among B-schools on the parameter of infrastructure and facilities, and IIM-Indore and IIM-Kozhikode ranked #10 and #11 respectively, the other IIMs are way down this year’s Top 100 B-schools league table, and suffer in comparison with go-getting privately-promoted B-schools such as XLRI — Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur — the country’s premier private B-school of 2018-19. Last year’s #1, the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad (ISB) is unranked this year because unlike other B-schools which offer two-year programmes, ISB offers a compressed 13-month MBA programme. According to Premchand Palety, CEO of C fore which conducted the survey, this consideration disqualified ISB from this year’s main league table, although it is ranked #1 in a separate league table for providers of executive education (see p.90). The entry of IIMs into the league table, has resulted in a major rejig of last year’s league table. Moreover this year’s sample respondents have given a huge promotion to the government-established Management Development Institute, Gurgaon (MDI, estb. 1973) which was unranked last year. In this year’s league table MDI is ranked #6 followed by the privately-promoted S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai at #7 (#3 in 2017-18), Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai at #8 (#4), FMS, Delhi at #9 (unranked) followed…
