Chennai is one of India’s 4 mega-metros. As one of the fastest growing Indian cities it has been attracting top b-schools looking to set up new campuses. Leading academicians have recognized the city’s potential. Dr BalaBalachandran started the trend with his mentoring of Great Lakes and now Dr Pramath Sinha is mentoring Crescent School of Business. So what is it about the city that has got B-schools interested?
Chennai boasts of a very high standard of living. It has been consistently ranked high in aspects such as ‘Safest’, ‘Cleanest’, ‘Least polluted’, and ‘Best Indian city for expats’. This has made the city a location of choice, especially for many multinational giants. The city offers many other tangible advantages:
- Chennai is known as the Detroit of India due tothe presence of Ford, Hyundai, BMW, Renault Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Daimler
- After Bangalore, Chennai is probably the foremost Indian city when it comes to presence of IT companies. Tidal Park, an IT Park in Chennai, is one of the largest IT Parks in Asia
- The World Bank has an office in Chennai! The office in Taramani is certified as a LEED Silver building and is part of a sprawling 3.5-acre campus
- Chennai is also known as The City of Beaches. It certainly has many – from the crowded Marina (the 2nd longest beach in the world!) to the scenic Kovalam beach
- For the culturally inclined, music and dance are deeply ingrained in the culture of the city. Music festivals are held mainly during the winters (Nov to Feb)
With all these advantages, Chennai would be a logical base for educational institutions. This is indeed the case with Chennai being home to many prominent engineering, medical, and liberal arts institutions. However, historically there haven’t been any prominent B-schools that made Chennai home. This trend now seems to be reversing.
All this would have been a reason for Dr Pramath Sinha, the Founding Dean of Indian School of Business, to now mentor a new B-school – the Crescent School of Business (www.csbedu.in) , in Chennai. The school, similar to the case of ISB Hyderabad, looks at professionals with at least 2 years of experience and is focused on offering a world-class study experience to students.
“We see a higher degree of optimism among corporates in Chennai due to the opportunities the city offers, and that necessarily will reflect in the opportunities for students who graduate from here and the ability of CSB to attract top quality students.” Says the program Head of CSB, KanakGhosh.
This rapidly evolving ecosystem wherein corporates and management students benefit from each other means that Chennai is firmly set to become a great B-school city!
