Following is an excerpt from an article in tathya.in.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik taking interest in the proposal of Bala V Balachandran for setting up the University of Corporate Excellence (UoCE) in Odisha, has cleared the same.
… Padmashree Prof. Balachandran, Professor at the Kellogg Institute of Management (KIM), USA is one of the major promoters of UoCE, which will come up with a cost of Rs.500-600 crore.
After setting up the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, along with some like-minded people, he started his Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai.
And now Prof. Balachandran has joined hands with top experts in the field of education and management to set up UoCE near the Capital City, which will enrol 5060 students in 9 years.
Accordingly the Chief Minister has cleared the proposal of Infinity Education Foundation (IEF), which will set up UoCE near Khurda.
… Earlier considering the student strength, Chief Secretary headed committee has decided to provide 20 acres of Government land at the premium of market rate in Daspur of Khurda district.
After assessing the progress in future, additional land can be considered for allotment, said an official.
… The University will have School of Technology, School of Management, School of Law, School of Humanities and School of Advanced Studies.
School of Technology will include courses on Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Electronics & Computer Engineering and Bio-Technology.
School of Humanities at foundational level will be preparing the students for corporate disciplines.
School of Advanced Studies will be providing courses for top-end corporate role.
UoCE will have top collaborative universities including Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, IIT, Harvard Business School, Kellogg School of Management, Harvard Law School, Yale Law School and several others, said sources.
March 31st, 2012
Following is an excerpt from a report in Pagalguy.com.
… Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai on May 6 announced its own plans to expand operations to Gurgaon and Orissa in addition to its earlier takeover of Mumbai Business School.
… The Great Lakes-Educomp partnership will also build a business education-oriented university in Orissa, tentatively named ‘University of Corporate Excellence’. Once the university kicks off, Great Lakes would have had spread its presence in all four corners of the country, says Prof Balachandran. While Great Lakes – Chennai has built a strength around marketing, IEMR will focus on the energy sector and MBS on emerging markets.
Educomp’s Rs 150 crore investment is part cash and part infrastructure and technology, such as its e-learning platform which will be powered using Great Lakes content to offer distance learning.
May 17th, 2011
Update: Following is an excerpt from a Business Standard article dated Dec 13 2010.
Bala V Balachandran, founder & dean of Great Lakes Institute of Management in Chennai, is in talks with Tata Foundation and Pirojsha Godrej Foundation to sell nearly 51 per cent stake in his institute.
“I have 90 per cent stake in my institute. I have decided to give the ownership to somebody who can give me some money to expand. I may offload as much as 51 per cent. The valuation of the institute would be around Rs 220 crore,” Balachandran told Business Standard on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai.
… Great Lakes also plans to open campuses in Gurgaon and Bhubaneswar. While it has bought some land in Gurgaon, the Orissa government has leased it 100 acres of land for 99 years.
The Gurgaon campus will require around 50 crore to set up and the Orissa campus would be set up at a cost of Rs 100 crore.
Following is from a report in http://www.tathya.in/news/story.asp?sno=4966.
… Mr.Patnaik met Padmashree Prof. Balachandran , Professor of the Kellogg Institute of Management, USA here on 7 February.
After setting up the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, along with some like-minded people, he started his Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai.
Now Prof. Balachandran has expressed his interest to set up UoCE near the Capital City.
… Hara Prasad Das, State President of the Infinity Education Foundation (IEF), Prasanta Kumar Mishra and Priyadarshi Mishra were present in the meeting.
IEF has given the proposal and has requested the Collector Khurda to provide land measuring an area of 88 acres for the university, which needs at least 100 acres.
Prof. Balachandran said that the UoCE would endeavour to create a well- rounded corporate manager, who will have solid foundation in basic disciplines such as Economics, Mathematics, Social Science and Business Communications.
The University will have School of Technology, School of Business, School of Law and School of Advanced Studies.
Chief Minister asked Mr.Mishra, Minister Higher Education to study the proposal and he promised to extend all out support for the same, said an official.
UoCE will have top collaborative universities including Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, IIT, Harvard Business School, Kellogg School of Management, Harvard Law School, Yale Law School and several others.
IEF has also planned for setting up of a Knowledge City to optimise high quality world class infrastructure and facilities for multiple universities located in a cluster within one campus.
They require 1000 acres of land for the purpose and investment will go up to Rs.10,000 crore, said Mr.Mishra, Minister Higher Education.
Some behind the scenes story and lesson: Dr. Prasanta Mishra mentioned above has played a significant role in partnering with Prof. Balachandran. Dr. Prasanta Mishra himself is one of the cofounders of KIIT and one of the founders of Temple City Institute of Technology and Engineering. The lesson for others, especially from other areas of Odisha who would like similar institutions/universities in their area, is to start with an institute near your preferred area, and use that experience to bring in well reputed and experienced people to your team and then make proposals to the Odisha government for bigger things. Alternatively one may invite reputed trusts with deep pockets to set up institutions/universities in one’s preferred area. If these reputed trusts with deep pockets go to Odisha government and say that they would like to open an institute in XYZ area, then, I am sure, the government would be happy to support them. Moreover, if the XYZ area lacks opportunities then the government may even chip in a few crores as they are doing with the proposed Xavier campus in Balangir and with various private medical college proposals in several backward districts and western Odisha districts.
February 8th, 2011
