Indus Business Academy PGDM Review By Kumavat Ghanshyam

Choosing IBA was no brainer for me after hearing all of Mukesh Ambani's speeches in which he has openly said that retail is the future. Reliance Industries have invested a lot in the retail business, and like them, many conglomerates like Tata's, Birla's, and Adani's. When you do a PG course, what exactly do you look at? Well, I looked at the future, and after knowing that retail is the future, I opted for the PGDM (Retail Management) from IBA, which is one of the best business schools in the country. Reliance Industries themselves have added many things in the courses, and even the assignments we did were for RIL. We were taken to Mumbai for the training for four weeks, and the experience gained there was more than what I learned in our air-conditioned classrooms. The intake for the college is fairly low and placements are exceptional. I paid a fee of 6 lakhs and getting placed with an offer of as good as what I paid for fees is more than what I need to say before recommending this college to all.

Education at IBA was up skilling the existing skills to evolve. Thus, you will achieve higher level skills before passing out from IBA. Besides up skilling, reskilling was also taught, and major projects were assigned to us that helped us become skilful. Case studies of RIL should be taught at every university as one can build a new TCS or Infosys today, but there won't be another RIL for ages. I may be promoting them, but because our studies were based more on the retail businesses that RIL has developed. Guest lectures from stalwarts of Bajaj group, Birla group, and Reliance group have definitely built the passion, and a mindset to excel was the biggest takeaways.

Again, one would say I am kidding, but the faculty were good. They made us enjoy the subjects, and even though projects would never end, we would still be doing it to get a pat on our back from our teachers. All the deserving teachers have been posted as some of them were working in the same space and knew the business know-how better than what books can teach us.

RIL is expanding its retail venture, and they hired 80% of the retail students. All set for different locations as the brilliant ones were sent to the west while others to develop business in North and South. The business developer role offered by RIL and a standard salary of 6 LPA to students posted for Northern and Southern offices while those hired for their Mumbai offices were offered 15-20% extra as the cost of living in those areas is high. 100% placement for retail and for the remaining streams, too the placements were more or less the same.

IBA has both boys and girls hostels inside the campus. The residential block for boys was more extensive than girls', but the dining hall was common. Only vegetarian food is served at IBA mess. The fees were a little higher for choosing attached washrooms while if one is ok with using common facilities. There was a residential hall beside the boys' hostel hall for staff. Some staff were outsiders, and the college provided them with residential facilities. Hostels weren't that strict as one would hear noises created at the hostel all the way to the girl's hostel. Hostel had many recreational facilities. Two large common rooms with big LED's, Table Tennis tables, and a couple of pool tables. So, all in all, the hostels were a great source of unwinding ourselves doing such a hefty course.

The campus was nearly 10 acres big and had two buildings. The college offers just one course with as many as eight specializations. The buildings were divided into four as each building accommodated four specializations. Both buildings had their own library, their own coffee bar. The campus had a bit of both as the greenery of the campus will give you the feel of Garden city, and since Bangalore is known for its IT industries, the modern facilities will provide you with a touch of how hi-tech the college is. A student activity centre had a stage and chairs installed to do projects or sip coffees with classmates. There was a sports complex with a proper stadium. A grocery store inside the campus to make sure the residing students didn't fall short on anything.

There were two big fests of IBA. One was a sports bash called Burning Bush, and the other was a cultural event known as Kalakshetra. Kalakshetra was one event where the students and even the faculty were allowed to participate. One skit on social messages is done by faculty members every year. Kalakshetra is a two-year program as every student is given the roles from the start. Students were divided into groups for Kalakshetra.