Bhopal: The National Law Institute University (NLIU), Bhopal, has become the first university to be approved by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) to offer the Graduate Insolvency Programme.

The Graduate Insolvency Program is the first of its kind for those aspiring to take up insolvency profession as a career in India and abroad and will benefit at entry level and in career growth.

This Graduate Insolvency Program would also provide opportunities to serve as in-house counsel or advisors to stakeholders in insolvency, liquidation, bankruptcy or turnaround process. The Graduate Insolvency Program will be of great value to those who opt to become teachers or researchers or work in media houses.

The NLIU had submitted the Expression of Interest to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) for the conduct of the Graduate Insolvency Program (GIP) on January 15, 2021. The IBBI has formally approved the National Law Institute University, Bhopal, in February, for conducting the Graduate Insolvency Program (GIP) from the academic session 2021-2022. The intake for the two-year Graduate Insolvency Program will be 40. On receipt of the approval letter from IBBI, the NLIU had formerly communicated its acceptance to the IBBI.

The chairperson of IBBI, MS Sahoo, said that a student who completes the GIP will be eligible for registration as an insolvency professional without having to wait to acquire the minimum 10 years’ experience as required by the Code at present.

The vice-chancellor of NLIU, Prof. V Vijayakumar, has constituted a GIP Course Coordination Committee to oversee its effective implementation. Prof. (Dr) Ghayur Alam, Professor of Business Laws, is designated as course director, Dr Monica Raje as deputy course director, Dr Atul Kumar Pandey as member of this committee and Amit Pratap Singh as course coordinator. An advisory committee consisting of judges, representatives of industry, financial and credit institutions, practitioners and academics is also being constituted exclusively for this purpose.