If you take the elevator up to the seventh, eighth or ninth floor of Kredent Tower in Salt Lake’s electronic complex, you will notice a series of swanky new classrooms. Peer in and you will find groups of formally dressed men and women poring over charts and maps and discussing anything from liberalisation to the West Bengal government’s late entry into the industrial market.

Welcome to the Calcutta branch of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), a prestigious business school that has been providing education and research opportunities in international business since 1963. An autonomous body under the Government of India’s ministry of commerce and industry, IIFT opened its Calcutta centre in July this year. “Calcutta’s geographical position makes it an ideal locus for the study of international business,” says K. Rangarajan, professor and head of the institute and of the IIFT’s centre of small and medium enterprises (SME) studies, explaining the decision to set up shop in the eastern region. “With a large market to tap as far as international trade in the south Asian region is concerned, the importance of this location as a study and research base cannot be over-emphasised.”

Tailor-made training

But whether you are studying in the Delhi centre or the Calcutta one, according to Rangaranjan, “the goal of IIFT remains the same.” And that is, to “impart a focused and specialised training in international business, in much more detail than other business schools can offer.”

So how is this done? Well, through its wide range of training programmes which includes both general managerial capability enhancement training as well as sector-specific or specialised and target-oriented training. Both the Delhi and Calcutta centres offer two-year master of business administration in international business (MBA in IB) programmes which focus on such major discipline areas as general management, economics and trade policy, marketing, finance, strategy, e-business and technology management, etc. The study of foreign languages as well as field visits and project studies are an integral part of the programme.

In a typical classroom at IIFT, you can expect to encounter a range of teaching methods which “makes the programme very fulfilling” says Umang Gupta, a first-year student of MBA in IB. This includes formal lectures followed by questions and answers, group discussions and even playing computer games to study modules of competition, strategy and management.

Industry interaction

In addition to classroom activities, seminars and workshops by industry experts who are invited as guest speakers and lecturers, are also organised. Among the more popular programmes are the corporate and port visits, which are arranged for the students to give them an opportunity to acquire first-hand knowledge about the working of port administration, customs, shipping and other areas of international trade.

For many of the students it is this emphasis on international business that is the main draw. “What sets IIFT apart from other business schools is its emphasis on the study of international business,” says Tripendu Prakash Ghosh, assistant professor at IIFT, Calcutta. Perhaps this is what attracts thousands of applications each year. According to Rangarajan, there were 50,000 applicants last year for the 160 seats. To get admission here one must have a bachelors degree from any recognised university or institution as well as a minimum managerial experience (including self-employment) of no less than three years.

“It is no longer enough to study management as a general field of study,” explains Gupta. Jitin Bhasin, another student from Delhi who opted for the Calcutta centre, agrees, “In this day of liberalisation, the real need is to study the international market.”

Dola Mitra

Vital Statistics

WHAT IS IT? A business school concentrating on international business studies.

WHO’S THE BOSS? Prof. K. Rangarajan is the head.

HOW TO APPLY ? Application is through a prescribed application form available at IIFT. The forms are given against a demand draft of Rs 1,000 (Rs 500 for SC/ST/PH candidates) favouring Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.

HOW TO GET IN ? The selection is on the basis of a written test and a personal interview.

WHERE IS IT? IIFT, Kredent Tower, J1/14, EP & GP Block
Salt Lake, Sector –V, Calcutta –700091 Phone: 2357-2851
Website: www.iift.edu