Govt allows IIMs to go abroad

Relenting on its rigid stance, the government on Wednesday gave its nod to Indian Institutes of Management to go global after amending their Memoranda of Associations and in a quid pro quo they decided to enhance intake of students, a condition set by the government.

"There is absolutely no conflict between us and the government. The ministry said amend the MoA and go ahead (in setting up campuses abroad)", Prakash Apte, Director, IIM-Bangalore said after a nearly 90-minute meeting between directors of all IIMs and HRD Minister Arjun Singh in New Delhi.

Describing the meeting as "productive and cordial", Apte said the Minister and the Ministry had always been supportive of IIMs.

Though the meeting convened by Singh was to deliberate on issues relating to autonomy and measures needed to further strengthen the prestigious B-schools, it is understood to have focused on the Ministry's denial of permission to IIM-B to set shop in Singapore.

IIM-Bangalore's ambitious plan to open a campus in the ASEAN nation got a jolt on January 11 when the HRD ministry refused it permission and asked it to first cater to the huge domestic demand.