India's elite business schools are going global with plans to train top-rung managers for emerging markets at cut-rate prices compared to their Ivy League cousins in the West.
From sending faculty abroad to remote satellite teaching, the state-aided and internationally recognised Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are working to extend their reach.
"We are focusing on executive education as we see large opportunities outside India," said Jayant Verma, dean of the IIM in the western city of Ahmedabad, one of six such schools in the country.
The exclusive management school - where more than 70,000 applicants fight for 200 places each year - is sending its faculty to train executives in Egypt, Oman and Sri Lanka, and plans to open a branch in Singapore.
"We see first and foremost other emerging markets where managerial challenges are similar to what we have in India," Verma told AFP by telephone.
"We need to get our feet wet in regional markets," he added.
The Indian Business School (ISB), a close rival to the IIMs, topped the international recruiters' list this year, with four of its graduates being offered annual wages beyond the 200,000-dollar mark.
"A total of 425 job offers came to our students this year, recording a 21 percent jump over last year and strikingly, it was the Indian firms which raised the bar significantly, offering international salaries," ISB's deputy dean Ajit Rangnekar told AFP.
"There is a new recognition of students of Indian B (business) schools in the Asian region where global companies are lapping up our products," he said.
IIM officials also say the schools offer value for money, with fees of about 1.5 million rupees (33,000 dollars) compared to around 110,000 dollars for a multi-year course at a top US business school.
"People who cannot go to Kellog, Harvard, Stanford or Wharton will turn to us also because most IIMs have people who can deliver the goods," said Oninda Sen, dean of the IIM in Kolkata.
"We see a huge potential and the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East are our prime targets because what we could offer will be extremely affordable and very practical ... there is no mismatch in these economies."
IIM-Kolkata has expanded its number of places to accommodate foreign students, launched remote satellite teaching and has sent faculty members to Colombo and Dubai to test the waters.
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