Leeds University Business School, one of the top B-schools in the world, enjoys a unique record - possibly unmatched by any other educational institutions abroad.

Its MBA programme for practising managers from across the world has the highest number of Indian students in one class.

"That's a huge achievement for Indian students considering that the admission is extraordinarily tough as the university draws response from students from as many as 40 countries," says professor Andew Lock, Dean of the University.

There are 12 Indians in a class of 43, for which entrants must have three years work experience and have the "equivalent of a First Class First degree," he says. 

Lock  was speaking to a visiting group of Indian mediapersons at the Leeds campus. The rewards are also fast in coming. The average annual salary for MBA passouts is $100,000 and over half of the students join the financial sector.

Leeds was also among the first universities abroad to set up a  business center to conduct quality research on Indian business. Called the James E Lynch India & South Asia Business Centre, it recently launched `Watching India', a series of market research briefings on the country.

Focusing on the economy as a whole and key industries such as manufacturing, pharma, telecom, retail, IT, BPO/KPO, the series is aimed at helping UK firms keep informed with a fast changing environment in one of the world's fastest growing economies.

Apart from its ongoing collaborations with the IIMs and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Leeds has  forged alliances with  NIFT  Amity and the BITS in areas like   biotechnology and engineering.