A new batch of students were welcomed to the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore’s (IIMB) two-year full-time MBA programmes — Postgraduate Programme in Management (PGP) and Postgraduate Programme (Business Analytics) on Saturday amidst the pandemic. As many as 488 students joined PGP and 46 students joined PGP BA.

An IIMB release quoted Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director, IIMB, as saying: “The current time has seen a lot of previous assumptions on business, management and economy being questioned. This may prove to be an exciting time for you students, who can embrace the changes and write new playbooks in business and management.”

In his welcome address at an inauguration programme on Saturday, he also said analysts expect a recovery in the economy by mid-2021, and said manufacturing growth is projected in India with new schemes.

Padmini Srinivasan, Chair of the Master of Business Administration programme, said this year, apart from students from across the country, two students from Korea are also joining.

Ashis Mishra, Chair, Admissions and Financial Aid, said for PGP, out of the 488 students, 423 are from engineering background; there are 146 women and 342 men; the average work experience is about two years, and the average age 25. For PGP BA, out of the batch of 46, there are 86.96% men and 13.04% women; the average age is 23; the maximum number of students are from engineering background - 53% from the IITs/NITs and rest from deemed universities. However, there are also students from other backgrounds such as Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics, Economics, Biotech, etc. A total of 54% of the batch have some work experience, while 45% have no experience, he added.

U. Dinesh Kumar, Chair, Master of Business Administration (Business Analytics), pointed out the IIMB has introduced a two-year full time MBA (PGP BA) after almost 47 years.

Abhoy K. Ojha, Dean, Academic Programmes, added that IIMB was quick to adapt to changes. “The school held a virtual convocation, invested in technology to provide online education, for both faculty and students. We have support staff to help the cause of digital education.”