Nagpur: It was yet another glorious moment in the academic history of Nagpur when the State’s Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis formally inaugurated Maharashtra’s first Indian Institute of Management in Nagpur at a function organised at the jam packed Chitnavis Centre here on Sunday.The Institute will run its campus from VNIT Nagpur.
Divisional Commissioner of Nagpur Anup Kumar, Director of IIM-Ahmedabad Ashish Nanda, Nagpur Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Principal Secretary Higher & Technical Education Government of Maharashtra Dr. Sanjay Chahande and Dean of IIM Ahmedabad Ajay Pande were prominently present to grace the occasion.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said that with the Indian economy opening up there is a need to build institutions like the IIM to produce the best of human resources. “The Indian economy is offering enormous opportunity to the global scenario for creating human resources. Gone are the days when the United States and European nations were on the forefront, some 30 years back. Today Indian talent is not lagging behind,” said Fadnavis.
“Our students from the IITs and IIMs have excelled in the world”, Fadnavis added, recalling his recent visit to the US where he toured the Silicon Valley and Google office.
“Eight out of ten (technocrats) were from India. You can build an infrastructure in two to three years but there is an urgent need for building an institution”, he added further. He hoped that students from IIM Nagpur will bring laurels not only to Vidarbha and Maharashtra but to the the entire country. Fadnavis expressed his happiness that out of six IIMs announced by Union Human Resource and Development Ministry, IIM Nagpur became the first to be inaugurated.
While addressing the audience he also said that it is indeed a day when he can claim that a dream has come true for Nagpur, Vidarbha and Maharashtra. At the outset, he thanked and lauded the efforts of Union HRD Minister Smruti Irani and Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari for helping move the files quickly and ensuring the establishment of our own Indian Institute of Management in Nagpur. He also expressed his gratitude to VNIT for proactively offering their campus for the Indian Institute of Management. He thanked Director of Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad Ashish Nanda for kindly agreeing to mentor Indian Institute of Management Nagpur.
Devendra Fadnavis claimed that the Global scenario is compelling us to create more Human Resources. If we see the past, entire manufacturing was done in United States of America and Europe for years. Later China emerged as a manufacturing country, while United States shifted to High Tech manufacturing. China became functional for manufacturing goods for Globe. However now it is time for India to emerge as a manufacturing nation. He claimed that Chinese economy has now shifted to Hi-Tech goods manufacturing. He went on to claim that even in China, the cost of manufacturing goods and labour are increasing. The human resources are no more competitive in China any more.
Devendra claimed that there is a global hunger for Human Resources. The only place which can host good human resources is India.
He said that it is time for us to make the dream of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “Make in India” to come true. He said that 50% of our Indian population is below 25 years of age. We can host this global hunger for human resources.
Fadnavis claimed that we have the best of brains. We have excelled not only at par globally, but our IITs and IIMs have done wonders. He went to share his experience during his visit to the states. He said that he had visited the Silicon Valley where many Indians were working. During an informal talk, an Indian employee claimed that they had gone for an agreement with Chinese company. There were a significant number of Indians in delegation that represented their company and to their surprise the number of Indians who represented the Chinese company too were many as a result 8 out of 10 delegates in the meeting were Indians. Fadnavis claimed that we have enormous talent. We need to build institutions like Indian Institute of Management. He claimed that it will take 2-3 years to build the infrastructure, but building an Institution of national repute like IIM or IIT is a real challenge.
While exhorting the students of the first batch of Indian Institute of Management Nagpur, he went on to say the Hindi adage “Baap Sey Beta Sawai” meaning the son is 1.5 times cleverer than the father. He asked the students to excel and surpass the reputation of other Indian Institutes of Management. He told the students that they are very special since they will always be remembered. He asked them to be comfortable and happy and compete and excel in everything that they do so that they can earn a good name and reputation to their alma mater and their nation.
Fadnavis claimed that a number of institutes of national repute are coming up in Nagpur. He claimed that industries abound where good human resources exists. He claimed that Pune became a big education hub which later on attracted many industries to be set up in and around Pune.
He said that we too should make Nagpur an educational hub and soon we will establish a magnetic field that attracts many industries to come-up in Nagpur. He added that there is a positive response and many investors are showing positive response to setting up industries in MIHAN. The dream of MIHAN which we saw in 1990s’ will certainly come true soon.
This year six IIMs were approved and the first Indian Institute of Management has already started in Nagpur. A pioneer will always remain a pioneer, he claimed while speaking about Indian Institute of Management Nagpur.
Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Director of IIM Ahmedabad Prof Ashish Nanda were also present on the occasion.
Director of IIM Ahmedabad Ashish Nanda while lauding all the politicians, bureaucrats for their undying support in the establishment of Indian Institute of Management, called them partners in this enterprise. The first batch has graciously arrived to be a part of the inauguration of the Indian Institute of Management-Nagpur to be part of the 50th Reunion. The students of the first batch may get to see what they will become after 50 years.
Ashish Nanda lauded the efforts of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his unconditional support in ensuring that the establishment of Indian Institute of Management goes without any hindrance. He claimed that apart from him, the bureaucrats like Divisional Commissioner Anup Kumar, Principal Secretary Chahande supported this enterprise whole-heartedly to ensure that IIM would come up without any hitch. Ashish Nanda while addressing the students told them that the one question that they should be asking themselves is “What kind of difference I’ll make in the society?”
Later, talking to media persons Nanda expressed the hope that the IIM pass outs will not be just good managers but will also be “agents of change in social and public policy making.” He said, “So far IIMA has spent about 224 crore for putting in place basic infrastructure at VNIT for IIM Nagpur.
Guardian Minister and Minister of State for Conventional and Non-Conventional Energy Resources Chandrashekhar Bawankule while addressing the audience said that this is a happy occasion. He said that he would like to take this opportunity to thank CM Fadnavis on behalf of the people of Nagpur and Vidarbha for ensuring that Indian Institute of Management is established in Nagpur. He claimed that within 15 days of Devendra Fadnavis becoming the Chief Minister, he called for a meeting and decided on bringing or establishing the Indian Institute of Management in Nagpur. Bawankule went on to thank the Shipping and Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari for moving the required files and documentation in Delhi with the Central Government so that Indian Institute of Management can come up in Nagpur without any hindrance.
Bawankule made an announcement that Nagpur will soon have the Central Power Research Institute. He claimed that Rs 500 crores have already been allocated and granted for establishment of this institute. He claimed that his ministry is working on creating 14000 watts Non-conventional energy. This Institute is slated to come up at Dhoti village. He added that soon we will be having IITs and AIIMS too in Nagpur. Bawankule also claimed that the speed in which land is allocated or allotted to various National Educational Institutions is significant and worth appreciating.
Bawankule added that the Chief Minister is working towards make Nagpur with its Zero Mile as the best city and Maharashtra as the best state in the country. Bawankule took this opportunity to request the Chief Minister to allocate or allot land for Government Engineering College and for a Vocational College in the MIHAN rehabilitated land or on Wardha Road near Khapri.
Nagpur Divisional Commissioner Anup Kumar while addressing the gathering said that this is a landmark day in the history of 300 year-old city while it is also a matter of pride for the people of Nagpur and Vidarbha. He claimed that the establishment of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Nagpur is a result of unison of vision of Union HRD Minister Smruti Irani, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Anup Kumar while lauding IIM Ahemedabad for nurturing, blooming and mentoring IIM Nagpur claimed that IIM Ahemedabad is ranked 56th position in the 100 top global Management Educational Institutions. He added that it is the reason why it had recently been accredited, making it to be at par with Global best Management Institutions.
Divisional Commissioner claimed that the establishment of IIM Nagpur would have never been possible without the vision and active support of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The establishment of IIM Nagpur, is probably the only Institute that was materialized within 8 months of its conceptualization. He claimed that a land has been allotted in Dahegaon near MIHAN.
Anup Kumar said that Nagpur will soon have All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Dahegaon near MIHAN as well. Nagpur will soon become an Educational Hub of the State and our Country not to mention the upcoming Nagpur Metro project coming up soon.
Chairman of Vishveshwaraiya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) Jamdar while addressing the gathering said that the citizens of Nagpur and Vidarbha have an ocean to celebrate. He also claimed that the establishment of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Nagpur is a mile-stone for us and a dream come true. This is because of three dimensional support.
He explained the three dimensions to be
- First Dimension:- The VNIT voluntarily offering its premises for IIM since they had the ideal factors which is suitable for an educational institution of this stature.
- Second Dimension:- The VNIT has offered the faculty quarters. This is a great sacrifice by VNIT faculty.
- Third Dimension:- If something good has to come about, it will certainly come about. It is also because of the Chief Minister’s “blessings”. He claimed that the media played a pro-active role in creating the right aura in bringing IIM to Nagpur.
He added that IIM has come to Nagpur because it has been mentored by IIM Ahmedabad. They are the ‘Guardians’. He went on to say that whenever the father does something, the son has to ‘surpass’ it. He said that Nagpur IIM will dream of out-perform IIM Ahmedabad to become a World Class Institute.
Principal Secretary of Maharashtra Chahande while addressing the gathering said that everybody knows how the files move in government offices. Normally when one envisages such a project, it could be easily construed as a 5-year-plan (Panch Varshiya Yojana). However the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Nagpur was conceived and executed in 10 months flat. He claimed that they gave a commitment to the Central Government and traversing at a mercurial speed the concept was realized. This must have been the fastest IIMs in the country. Chahande also claimed that there are as many as 385 MBA Institutes in Nagpur. We were missing the jewel in the crown which we have now acquired. However, he pointed out that there needs to be a qualitative improvement in other management institutions, which IIM Nagpur will aid in.
IIMs should not only make management graduates but should be involved in the process of policy decisions and governance. He added that out IIMs should now aspire to be at par with and in league of Stanford or Harvard Universities. He welcomed the students of the first batch of IIM Nagpur and assured that by the third batch, they will have their own infrastructure too.