London mayor John Stuttard at Writers’ Buildings. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta, is continuing to forge partnerships with B-schools abroad. On Wednesday, it tied up with Leeds University Business School (Lubs).

The partnership will enable students of the Postgraduate Programme for Executives (PGPEX) at Joka to spend five weeks in the UK as a part of the annual international immersion programme.

“We know that the students at IIM Calcutta are outstanding. We hope we can expand the scope of our partnership,” said Andrew Locke, dean, Lubs. He was part of the 33-member business delegation that was in the city with the Lord Mayor of London John Stuttard.

At a seminar in Calcutta, Stuttard stressed the need to strengthen education and expressed the desire to form partnerships. “We want to work in partnership with India. The MoU between Lubs and IIM Calcutta is an example of partnership in action,” he said.

This international immersion programme provides IIM students the opportunity to work in a group in cross-cultural environments and address complex business issues. Lubs will host up to 15 students of the PGPEX course.

The programme participants will be expected to undertake a “consulting type” project or an internship at a firm during the five weeks of international immersion.

The institutes will explore the possibility of collaboration in developing and delivering programmes and in research. Faculty exchange is also a possibility.

“We are planning a two-day joint conference in January on Indian companies which are making acquisitions and mergers abroad,” said Anindya Sen, dean programme initiatives, IIM Calcutta.

Stuttard, who was on his second visit to Calcutta, discussed the possibility of promoting heritage tourism in Calcutta with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. “British buildings in Calcutta can be revived with expertise from British architects. We discussed how this architectural revival could be used to promote heritage tourism,” said the mayor.

A group of members of the delegation also visited the civic headquarters.