-Autar Nehru (Delhi)

Saxena: national footprint plan

Amit Saxena is CEO of the education vertical of the Delhi-based Sparsh Group, a widely diversified business conglomerate with interests in polyester films, packaging, hospitality, and renewable energy. The group currently runs four K-12 schools in Delhi-NCR — Sparsh Global and JP International schools in Greater Noida, Swarnprastha Public in Sonipat and Glory Public schools in New Delhi. Moreover, the group has promoted and manages three higher ed institutions (HEIs) — Indore Institute of Science & Technology, Indore Institute of Management & Research, and Indore Institute of Pharmacy. Aggregate enrolment: 8,000 students mentored by 700 faculty.

Newspeg. Sparsh Global Business School, Greater Noida is all set to admit its first batch of 60 graduate students into its two-year postgrad diploma programme.

History. An alum of Rohilkhand University and business management postgrad of IMS Ghaziabad, Saxena began his career in marketing with the US-based Columbia Broadcasting Service, followed with stints in Business Press and Gadgil Western Group. In 1997, he signed up with the (now defunct) Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM), where during a 17-year stint he gained valuable experience in managing education institutions.

In 2015, he was hand-picked and selected by Roshan Agarwal, chairman of the Sparsh Group, to lead their foray into education. Since then, Saxena has spearheaded the group’s entry into K-12 and higher education through a mix of acquisitions and promotion of greenfield institutions. “In the first phase, from 2015-17, we adopted the ‘Edupreneurship through Acquisition’ model, and acquired JP International, Swarnprastha Public and Glory Public schools in Delhi NCR followed by HEIs in Indore. Since then, we have been engaged in infrastructure upgradation and faculty training to transform these schools and colleges into high quality, globally benchmarked institutions,” says Saxena, conferred an honoris causa doctorate in business administration by Maryland State University, USA, earlier this year.

Soon after the Covid pandemic restrictions were eased, the group launched two greenfield projects — Sparsh Global School and the Sparsh Global B-school — both in Greater Noida.

Direct talk. “Our entry into education was driven by the awareness of our chairman Roshan Agarwal that India needs new-age curriculums, pedagogies and practices. Therefore after revamping and upgrading our acquired schools, to attain the lofty goals of Viksit Bharat and $30 trillion GDP set by prime minister Narendra Modi, in 2023 we launched the K-12 Sparsh Global School affiliated with Cambridge International, UK, and earlier this year, Sparsh Global Business School. Public response to both these greenfield institutions is very encouraging. Sparsh Global School with its 21st century curriculum integrating STEM, entrepreneurship and social/emotional learning has attracted over 1,000 students. And the Sparsh B-School which will begin operations in July-August is all set to admit its first batch of 60 graduate students. Currently, we are engaged in fulfilling the regulatory norms and obtaining necessary clearances to administer all our schools and HEIs under the Sparsh umbrella brand by the end of the current academic year,” says Saxena.

Future plans. With all seven education institutions of the group up and running, Saxena has drawn up big plans to scale the Sparsh schools footprint across the country under the franchise model, and consolidate the HEIs in Indore. “We plan to consolidate our Indore-based HEIs into a government-legislated private university. Seven years after we ventured into education, we feel confident that the Sparsh Group has developed the expertise to introduce best practices mandated by NEP 2020 to transform India into an education superpower,” says Saxena.

Way to go!