Mumbai: Before the Union Cabinet, in a decision in July 2023, approved an amendment in the Indian Institute Management (IIM) Act to rename it as IIM Mumbai, the National Institute for Training in Industrial Engineering (NITIE) was famous for its expertise in supply chain and management, and for being a front runner in industrial engineering.
Charging a nominal fee, the institute provided placements to almost cent percent of its students year after year. Set up in 1963 by the government of India with assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), NITIE used to only accept engineers into its courses. It is a known fact that since its rebranding as an IIM, the institute has started accepting eligible students from varied fields, but what else has changed since NITIE became IIM Mumbai?
In an exclusive interview with the Free Press Journal, Professor Manoj K Tiwari, Founding Director of IIM Mumbai, talks about the year long journey of NITIE converting to an IIM. Here are the excerpts:
FPJ: It's been one year now that NITIE was converted into an IIM. How has the journey been over the past one year from National Institute for Training in Industrial Engineering to Indian Institute of Management Mumbai?
Tiwari: The journey has been fabulous. In fact, even when the institute was known as NITIE, we were running management courses and that we have been running since 1995. So, we already had very good industry connections, a large pool of alumni, and a strategic location: Mumbai. Our endeavour, by pursuing with the government, was to upgrade the institute — which is already listed among some of the best institutions in the country — as an IIM. With Mumbai offering a world class facility with respect to the finance, logistics sector, and manufacturing sectors giving it a status of an IIM would only help elevate the perception of the institution.
Apart from getting larger industrial connections, our perception has changed in the ranking system as well: from a score of 21 to 51. Several companies have tied up with us in the last one year to pursue programs collaboratively in the domain like semiconductor manufacturing promotion through Tata Electronics.
We are running an executive MBA program in manufacturing management for Tats Electronics employees. Such programs have also been launched in collaboration with other companies as well, Maritime Logistics, Coal India Ltd., have also been launched. We’re also in touch with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to start an executive MBA for their employees. So, I can say that the journey thus far has been fabulous.
FPJ: You started as the director of NITIE, and now you are of IIM Mumbai. How has the institution transformed in the last 5-6 years?
Tiwari: First of all industry perception has changed. Second, our own people have now started giving more robust kinds of teachings, like how to have more case study based pre-reads, more tech-driven focus, and how Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and all other things can be part of the subjects. We have to improve our inner quality, administrative equipment and also facilities here so that we can serve better both the students and industry.
FPJ: Has the fee structure changed?
Tiwari: Yes, earlier we were getting grants from the Ministry which we don’t get now. After becoming IIM, we have to earn all the resources by ourselves. So, accordingly our board has taken a decision to increase the fees from 7,50,000 to 21,50,000 for the full course.
FPJ: NITI is always very famous for placements. So, how has the placement journey transformed in the last few years?
Tiwari: Even when it was NITIE, the placement was always very good particularly in logistics and supply chain and we have an illustrious list of alumni who are not reputed in India but around the globe. So, that becomes our strength along with newer areas that we are trying to foster. Many industries in the domain, which were coming for only a few segments, are now coming with the sales, marketing, strategy and also the areas like consulting. This trend is quite visible actually. Industries’ focus has also changed towards us and we are trying to comprehensively cover almost all the domains of management now.
FPJ: And how has the package increased?
Tiwari: Package increase is being already witnessed. For example, this year already we have around 110 students who got above, you can say, 26-27 lakh rupees package. And some industries have also given above 50 lakh rupees. There are more than 13 students who have got one of the best, worldwide known supply chain firms and their package is above 50 lakh rupees. And famous IT firms, they are also giving about 50 lakhs. So, average if you count, it may go somewhere around 29-30 lakh rupees.
FPJ: What was the average salary for NITIE?
Tiwari: Earlier it was just slightly less than that, but you can say the role and importance has increased actually. And we hope that this will further improve.
FPJ: Has the student faculty ratio changed after?
Tiwari: Actually, we are taking advantage of being in Mumbai. A large number of people in the finance, marketing, and other areas come as a guest faculty. We want to take their full advantage for our students because they are getting more and more information and knowledge about the field and best practices by the industry. So, if you see it that way, we have increased our faculty strength at present. We currently have slightly above 60 regular faculty, but our target is to make it somewhere around 80. And if you count the visiting faculty from the city, we have somewhere around 85 faculty members. But we want to take it above 100 actually by taking the city's professionals’ support.
FPJ: According to the NIRF rankings, IIM Mumbai now ranks 6. It ranked 29 when you had not joined the organisation. How have you achieved this rank and what lies ahead for IIM Mumbai?
Tiwari: Several changes have been made which have made an impact. We revised our Memorandum of Association before becoming IIM. So, our expense pattern, our name frame and also decision making in the board becomes very simple and effective. With that now we started doing a lot of repair work, campus beautification, providing better facilities to the students, and massive networking options. And therefore, there is a sea change in the attitude of the people and that reflects in the behaviour and treatment of the industry towards us.
So, when an industry connection improves, better teaching learning has been improved. In research, our publication and citations have gone up and we have tried to provide more diversity. Number of women candidates has increased. This year 47% women candidates have taken admission in the institute. So, all these factors led to comprehensive improvement in the different parameters of the ranking.
