The Indian retail industry is structuring itself to meet global demands and the management institutes, too, are jumping on the bandwagon.

Indian Institute Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM) has recently tied up with Pantaloon Retail India to offer a two-year, postgraduate diploma in retail management.

The course, which is expected to begin in August this year, will include the basic principles of management, but is specifically tailored to concentrate on mall management, store design and legal issues relating to retail.

?Retail is a sector that has tremendous potential for growth in a country like India. Unfortunately, the organised retail sector in India constitutes only two to four per cent of the entire market. This is in marked contrast to countries such as Thailand, where the organised sector constitutes almost 40 per cent of the entire market,? stated Gairik Das, faculty, IISWBM and coordinator of the retail management course.

The USP of the programme is that Pantaloon will be offering all students a job on successful completion of the course.

The course has been divided into 15 months of classroom studies and nine months of on-the-job training with Pantaloon at any of their numerous stores all over the country.

?Students undergoing this course are guaranteed to get a job with Pantaloon once they complete the programme. It is up to them whether they want to take it or not. They also have to undergo a nine-month internship, during which Pantaloon will be paying each student a stipend of Rs 5,000 per month,? said Das.

The IISWBM, the country?s first management institute, is the first to offer a course on retail in eastern India, claimed Das.

?The retail industry has a lot of potential in Bengal. Global retail organisations such as Wal-Mart and Metro have expressed great interest in the state and that bodes well for students undergoing the programme,? he observed.