Shops are mushrooming across the country and the B-schools are trying to churn out the required manpower.

First it was the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM) which joined hands with Pantaloons Retail (India) Ltd to provide a two-year programme in retail management. Now, it’s the turn of the NSHM Knowledge Campus.

Management institutes in the city are gearing up to cater to the growing retail sector as they draw up industry-oriented courses in partnership with retail majors.

“The retail sector in India is poised for a leap into the next stage of evolution. And there is a huge demand for trained manpower,” said Krishnendu Sarkar, head of learning systems, NSHM. The institute recently tied up with Retailers Association of India (RAI), which aims at uplifting the standards of overall retailing in the country, for its postgraduate programme in retail management.

RAI, which has 46 companies, like Aditya Birla Retail , Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Levi Strauss (India), as its founder-members and another 100 core members and 60 associate members, will leverage their coverage for internship and placement of students who will complete the programme from NSHM.

Once looked down upon as a blue-collar job, opportunities in the industry are on the rise. The salary is exciting and with the industry growing, salary levels are also moving up, keeping pace with the other sectors.

“The salary in our industry is pretty good, with people getting an average annual salary of Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh,” said Gibson G, Vedamani, CEO, RAI.

The course for the 18-month residential programme has been designed jointly by NSHM and RAI. “This is a high-end course. We are planning to introduce a national-level test, on the lines of CAT, along with group discussion and personal interviews for admission,” said Sarkar.