Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

After independence, to fulfil the need for suitable managers for the large public sector enterprises George Robbins a professor at the University of California was invited by the Govt. of India to set up two elite public management institutes. They collaborated with the Government of West Bengal, the Indian Industry, the MIT Sloan School of Management, and the Ford Foundation for the same. Out of the two, the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta was the first to be formed in the year 1961. During the initial years, many renowned academicians and visionaries formed the core team that included Jagdish Sheth, Paul Samuelson, J. K. Sengupta, Peter S. King, and Thomas Hill. In the initial years, the institute was operating from Emerald Bower, Barrackpur Trunk Road, Kolkata. The institute moved to the current campus in 1975.

Indian Institute of Management Calcutta has been recognized as an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India in 2017. It is the first institute to get the triple-accredited business school recognition in India, and there are only three of these in India. It is also the only business school in India to be a part of the CEMS Global Alliance in Management Education.

IIM Calcutta ranked 17th worldwide by the ‘Financial Times Masters in Management Ranking’ and 42nd in its Global MBA Ranking 2020. The QS Global ranked it 101-110 in the World 250 MBA Rankings 2020 and 13 in Asia. By the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2020, IIM Calcutta was ranked third among management schools. It was ranked third by Outlook India’s “Top 25 Public MBA Colleges in India” of 2020.

A state-of-the-art Financial Research and Trading Lab (the Finance Lab) has been installed by IIM Calcutta. The primary aim of the Finance Lab is to support advanced applied research in financial markets and assist finance managers with the mathematical and conceptual theories and best practices in financial markets that ultimately goes into the creation and management of unique financial products. IIM Calcutta is the only one to have access to a Bloomberg terminal. The lab is also equipped with a real-time trading exchange simulator that can access data from different financial markets. The Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) at IIM-C is set up to accumulate teaching cases and notes that can be further used by professors of Business Schools in India, as well as abroad.

In a fast-forwarding competitive world, placements have become a yardstick for excellence. IIM Calcutta is considered to be the best in India in this respect and that is proof of the quality of its students and the strength of its corporate relationships, which have grown over the years. The placement track record of IIMC has been phenomenal over the years.

The GE Money, Pfizer, ABP Limited, GE Capital Services, Photon Infotech, General Electric, Accenture, ACME Tele Power Limited, Goldman Sachs, Philips, Air India, Amazon, American Express, Hewlett Packard, Hindustan Unilever Limited, HSBC Group, Reliance ADA Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd., General Electric, Johnson & Johnson (Medical), Oracle, etc.

The alumni network of IIM-C has more than 15000 people who have taken up careers in Management, Academy, Public Service, Social Service all around the world, and have made a significant impact in their respective fields. Every year the institute has been awarding a Distinguished Alumni Award to the alumni who have made significant contributions in the fields of Management, Academy, Public service, and Social Service.

The notable alumni include Ajit Balakrishnan, Shyam Srinivasan, Gopal Vittal, and Swami Mukundananda. Some of the others are listed below.