‘IIM Ahmedabad aims to extend full or partial freeships to 40% of students’: Director

Bharat Bhasker, director of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, in an exclusive interview with Careers360, discusses his vision for the coming years, aiming to offer full or partial freeships to around 40% of their students, covering their tuition fees. He also talks about the institute’s fee refund policy and explains why management research at IITs is often ranked higher compared to IIMs and other management institutions. Edited excerpts:

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What are the key challenges you’re facing as a director of IIM Ahmedabad?

I actually see challenges as opportunities. There’s immense potential here, so much to be done in this country, and only a limited number of IIMs with such strong competence. What some might call challenges, I view as opportunities for growth.

Our goal is to contribute not only to India’s development but also to the global growth story. Of course, there are limitations, especially in terms of infrastructure and expansion of full-time programmes, but these have pushed us to innovate. That’s why we introduced the blended MBA programme last year. This year, we’re launching a Business Analytics and AI programme with MBA capabilities integrated into it.

We also recognised the need for India to emerge as a global leader, particularly in the Global South. To support this vision, we have established the IIM Ahmedabad campus in Dubai. The idea is to be present in the heart of the Global South, developing leadership capabilities there, inspired and influenced by India’s growing global role.

Are you also receiving a full grant from the UAE government?

Unlike the IITs, we don’t receive a full grant. Our model is quite different. The host government is providing support for capital expenditure. So far, all capital costs have been fully funded by them. However, when it comes to operational expenses, we are entirely self-sustained and manage those costs independently.

What is your perspective on Indian accreditation systems for IIMs such as NAAC, compared to international ones like AACSB, EQUIS etc.?

When we talk about Indian accreditations such as NAAC or NBA, the reality is that no IIM currently holds either of these accreditations. Most have not pursued them. Instead, many of us have opted for international accreditations such as AACSB, largely because these are essential for establishing student and faculty exchange programmes with global institutions. In that sense, international accreditation has become more of a necessity than a choice.

Personally, I believe Indian accreditations should evolve to become more relevant to institutions like the IIMs. The current NAAC and NBA frameworks aren’t entirely suited to our structure and focus areas. However, with the new National Education Policy (NEP), we expect the emergence of a single accreditation authority under the proposed Higher Education Commission. This new system is likely to differentiate between management institutions and universities, offering a more nuanced approach.

The upcoming model won’t simply grade institutions as A+, A++, and so on. Instead, it will classify them as local, regional, national, or global institutions based on their reach and impact. Our aspiration, of course, is to be recognised as a global institution. But that classification won’t imply a hierarchy; rather, it will reflect the scope and nature of each institute’s academic and research influence. Once this new framework is introduced, I believe IIMs, IITs, and other leading institutions will actively participate in it.

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Do you think there’s a need for a specific regulatory body for IIMs and IITs – institutions established under the “Institutes of National Importance” Act? These institutions do not fall under the UGC’s purview, and therefore don’t strictly follow its policies.

You’re right, IIMs and IITs are not governed by the UGC in that sense. However, most voluntarily follow UGC policies, including the fee refund policy. There are certain grey areas where it’s unclear whether a UGC guideline strictly applies, since we are not mandated to follow them.

That said, as responsible institutions, we generally adhere to such guidelines as a matter of good practice. For instance, if a student pays the initial deposit but later decides not to join, we refund the amount in accordance with the UGC norms. However, if one has already attended part of the term and then chooses to withdraw, our policy may differ slightly to reflect the resources already utilised.

I don’t want to focus on whether institutions are strictly bound to follow such regulations – that’s a grey area – since we operate under a separate Act. Technically, one could take the position that we are not obligated to comply, but I don’t personally see it that way.

My view is that good policies, wherever they originate, should be adopted by all institutions. We shouldn’t need to be governed or dictated by a regulation to do what’s right.

When it comes to case studies, we often read those based on Western companies and contexts. But India has its own unique challenges and success stories. Do you think we should focus more on Indian companies?

That’s actually a common misconception. At IIM Ahmedabad, we have a repository of nearly 4,000 case studies developed in-house. From the very beginning, the institute has consistently written its own cases. Even today, we create around 40 to 50 new cases every year, many of which are used directly in classrooms.

We also use Harvard and other international case studies because our goal isn’t just to prepare students for the Indian business environment, but for global leadership roles. We can’t afford to be insular, students need exposure to diverse business ecosystems.

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However, a substantial portion of our teaching is grounded in Indian cases. Out of the new cases developed annually, about 15 to 20 are integrated into teaching modules. When I write a case, I do it with a purpose, it’s meant to be discussed and tested in the classroom, not just archived.

We also have a well-established Case Centre that provides access to our cases for other institutions. They can subscribe for a nominal annual fee, roughly Rs 4-5 lakh, and gain unlimited access to our entire case library.

If we look at NIRF rankings, IIT Delhi, for instance, ranks high primarily because of its research output. Meanwhile, IIMs and other standalone management institutions often seem to lag in that area.

That’s a fair question, but I’d say we’re not falling behind at all. In fact, we continue to remain at the top precisely because of our strong research focus. The difference lies in how research is defined and applied.

For IITs, research typically means publishing academic papers in scientific or technical journals, and they do that very well. For us, that kind of research is equally important, and we too publish extensively. That’s one of the reasons we continue to rank number one.

However, management education also emphasizes practice-oriented research. Writing case studies, for instance, is just as vital as publishing papers. Engineering research is about bringing the latest scientific findings into the classroom, but management education is about translating the latest industry practices into learning experiences.

Each year, our faculty publish between 80 and 100 research papers and produce 40 to 50 high-quality, classroom-ready case studies. This dual focus ensures that our students are industry-ready from Day 1. When they encounter real business scenarios in their jobs, they often recognise them as situations similar to the cases they’ve already analysed in class.

What is your take on making MBA education more affordable at IIMs? For instance, your institute has a corpus worth several thousand crores, yet fees are quite high.

The cost of running a top-tier management institute is inherently high, but we don’t operate for profit. Our goal has always been to ensure that no deserving student is denied education because of financial constraints.

We guarantee two things. First, every admitted student has access to a bank loan without collateral or a guarantor – all they need to show is their admission letter. Second, we provide extensive tuition waivers. In fact, about 40% of our students receive some form of financial assistance. Of these, nearly 20% get more than half their tuition waived, and around 10% receive a full freeship, meaning they pay no tuition at all.

While hostel and living expenses are separate, tuition constitutes nearly 90–95% of the overall cost, and we try to ease that burden significantly. My goal in the coming years is to extend full or partial freeships to around 40% of our students.

To achieve this, our Endowment Fund Board is actively raising resources, and scholarships remain one of its key pillars. Every year, we add more freeships, made possible largely through the generosity of our alumni.

NIRF rankings often assign low perception scores to standalone management institutions. I’m not talking about legacy IIMs like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, or Calcutta, but other top private B-schools that provide high-quality education. What’s your take, especially since some IITs with MBA programmes seem to score higher?

Perception scores are always somewhat subjective. They rely on surveys sent to a large database, and the responses often depend on alumni engagement. Alumni who feel connected and loyal to their alma mater are more likely to respond, which can skew the results.

This highlights an important point – building and maintaining strong alumni relationships is crucial. Schools that nurture loyalty and keep their alumni connected will see this reflected positively in perception-based rankings.

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What about your entrepreneurship cell? You have an impressive incubation centre IIMA Ventures?

Our focus now is on deep tech, and we’ve built a continuum that supports startups from incubation all the way through initial series funding. One of our recent successes, PeerSight, has gained global attention. We also incubated IdeaForge, which has become widely recognised today.

Here’s the key: most technologies emerge at IITs or institutions like IISc, but they often struggle to move from early-stage development to a commercially viable stage. This is what we call the valley of death. Many promising technologies fail to reach market readiness during this stage. At IIMA Ventures and CIIE, we identify such technologies and provide hands-on support to help them survive this critical phase.