BANGALORE: After resisting a fee hike this year, Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B) has decided to implement from 2006 a 10 per cent increase in fee for the post-graduate programme in management.

IIM-B is first among the Big Three IIMs to go in for a fee hike. From the current Rs 1.5 lakh a year, the two-year PGP would come with a fee tag of Rs 1.65 lakh per annum. The decision was conveyed by IIM-B director Prakash G Apte during the Board of Governors’ meeting last month, the last chaired by outgoing chairman S M Datta.

The hike, he told members, is to bridge the deficit since the programme is subsidised and more seats are being added.

This year, only IIM Indore, Kozhikode and Lucknow increased the fee for PGPM marginally,while IIMs at Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata agreed to retain last year’s fee structure. All IIM directors have agreed to move towards a uniform fee structure as desired by the HRD ministry.

Though the Board suggested that IIM-B enhance its image by having an international faculty and students, the director advised caution. “Offering admission to foreign students in a liberal manner is not desirable as it will mean compromising with the rigour and quality of the programme.”

After IIM-A, IIM-B is set to launch an executive MBA programme. A faculty committee has been constituted to work out the plan, and also look at possible collaboration with leading foreign universities.

Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), which has entered the top 10 club of 2004 Cosmode-BW ranking, moving up 5 places from its ranking in 2003, is positioning itself as one that caters to both corporate and social sectors. Besides its general management programme, the institute also offers a course in rural management. XIMB started with a 100-village pilot project for BSES for rural electricity and distribution in Orissa. It currently works in 4,000 villages. XIMB has a satellite set-up through which it intends to extend executive MBA programmes to other cities. XIMB has signed a pact with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to set up CII-XIMB Centre of Excellence, which will come out with joint research and policy papers on industry and the social sector.

Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Management Studies and Research (BVIMSR) was founded in 1984 in Navi Mumbai by the Bharati Vidyapeeth. It offers a two-year full-time Masters in Management Studies (MMS) programme under the University of Mumbai, besides an autonomous two-year full-time Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM). The two programmes offer specialisation in finance, marketing, systems and human resources. In addition to the two programmes, BVIMSR provides a three-year part-time Executive MBA and the Post-Graduate Diploma in Information Technology.

Apart from these courses, BVIMSR provides vocational training to its students in centres run by the Bombay YMCA with a view to inculcating corporate social responsibility in them. Meanwhile BVIMSR is also planning to offer courses in retail management and mass media communication by Jan 2006.

Indian business schools are opening centres in Dubai. Business school administrators and professors have been visiting Dubai to conduct feasibility studies and prepare course materials.

XLRI and SP Jain Institute of Management and Research have set up centres in Dubai. Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, and Indian Institute of Foreign Trade are planning to set up centres in Dubai, Africa and South East Asia. As Government of Dubai rules do not permit international institutes to operate fully owned centres in Dubai, XLRI collaborated with Al Abbas to set up its centre.

Al Abbas managed the logistics and infrastructure while XLRI transferred its syllabus and faculty to Dubai.

SP Jain Centre for Management has set up its centre at the Knowledge Village set up by the Government of Dubai.

It is the only institute to offer a residential full-time MBA programme in the UAE. The fee charged at the Dubai centre is 3-4 times higher than that charged in India. Fees for executive MBA course is 45,000 Dirhamss while the course for full-time MBA costs 55,000 Dirhamss.

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade has also reserved a space of 6,500 square feet at the Knowledge Village for its venture.