CIMP eyes tie-ups with varsities in US, Australia

Times of India Reports:

PATNA: An atmosphere of enthusiasm, euphoria and expectation was palpable on the campus of the Chandragupta Institute of Management, Patna (CIMP)
even as students celebrated the institute's first anniversary on Saturday.

The words "economic slowdown" and "layoffs" do not seem to frighten the students here. "It is not going to affect us. It will affect the IT sector which is dependent on the US economy. There will be jobs in other sectors like finance and marketing," said Anurag, one of the first-batch students of the institute.

If the students of this institute, a brainchild of chief minister Nitish Kumar who also happens to be the chairman of the institute, feel so it is not without reason. "There are many benchmarks we have crossed within one year," said CIMP director V M Das, a former teacher of the famed IRMA.

Incidentally, the institute is on the verge of an international collaboration with universities in the USA and Australia. "We have a meeting in the Australian embassy on February 7 to finalise a students exchange programme," said Das.

The institute has been recognised as a centre of research for micro-financing in eastern India by Nabard, which has asked it to conduct a study to scale up micro-financing in Bihar. The institute also has a collaboration with Unesco to study sustainable development growth. It has been recognised by the Centre of Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, to conduct national studies.

The institute will be the first in the country to organise coaching classes for SC/ST and backward class students for CAT exams. "This is because of the quota policy introduced by the Centre. At present, not enough students of these sections qualify," said Das.

The visiting faculty members are from IIMs. "We will try to be better than IIMs within three years," claimed Das.

At present, the institute is being run out of Hindi Bhawan. But already 18 acres of land have been allotted to it and Rs 10 crore sanctioned for the required infrastructure
.