PUNE:With education emerging as one of the biggest business opportunities in the country, the city’s institutes are going all out to woo students through expensive advertising campaigns.

Advertising agencies estimate that educational institutes in Pune are spending between Rs 10 crore and 13 crore per annum to reach out to prospective students, not only in Pune, but also elsewhere in the country.

Among the biggest ad spenders is the Symbiosis society, which has 26 institutes and an annual ad budget of Rs 1.5 crore. In sharp contrast, the University of Pune’s annual ad budget is Rs 25 lakh.

The Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT) doubled its ad budget this year to Rs 40 lakh.

“Last year, we spent about Rs 10 lakh on educational exhibitions, both in India, as well as abroad. Participation in exhibitions helps market our name and rope in foreign students. This year, we plan to spend at least Rs 20 lakh on exhibitions,” said MIT’s executive director, Mangesh Karad.

Advertising professionals say the aggressive promotional campaigns aimed at grabbing a share of the money available in the education market is a result of the escalating course fees and the mushrooming of institutes.

“The Pune-Mumbai belt has emerged as the educational capital of India, and a considerable effort is being made by institutes in Pune to tap the north Indian market,” said Vijay Thombre, director of advertising agency Market Missionaries.

“Much of the advertising is in newspapers and magazines.A very small percentage is spent on billboards and cable TV advertising,” Thombre said.

Arun Mudbidri, director of the Symbiosis institute of business management, said his institute does not need to spend more than Rs 20-25 lakh on advertising per year “as we have an established reputation. We already have a brand name and in fact, our website has emerged as a very effective tool of communication”.

According to him, students don’t go by advertisements, but by the credibility of institutes.

He admitted that there was a clear trend of advertising aggressively among educational institutes. “Various Bschools and coaching classes offering training and advice for going abroad are also advertising heavily,” Mudbidri said.

The MIT, Dina Institute and an institute promising to provide training in “foreign languages and computing” are some of the prominent billboard advertisers in the city. “Many of these advertisements are suddenly grabbing attention because they were never there before,” Chandrakant Kudal, proprietor of Asha Publicity, said.