The Mohali campus of the Indian School of Business (ISB) was formally inaugurated today by the Honourable Union Minister of Finance, Shri P Chidambaram, in the presence of the Honourable Chief Minister of Punjab, Sardar Parkash Singh Badal. The event was also attended by a high profile gathering including the Chairman of the ISB, Adi Godrej and founding board members of the Mohali campus, Analjit Singh, Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Sunil Kant Munjal and Atul Punj, other members of the ISB Executive Board, senior government officials, business leaders, faculty and representatives from the ISB’s Associate Schools, students, alumni and staff.

Endorsing the Board’s support, Adi Godrej, Chairman, ISB, said, “Our expansion into Mohali, allowing for a greater geographic outreach apart, has given us an opportunity to foray into important new areas – Manufacturing, Healthcare, Infrastructure and Public Policy – through the specific institutes set-up for the purpose. This, we believe will provide a significant fillip to nurturing talent and research in areas critical to India’s development.”

The dignitaries unveiled a plaque to commemorate the occasion. The plaque was designed and created by Padmashree Shri Nek Chand Saini, the creator of the icnonic Rock Garden of Chandigarh. Nek Chandji has used mosaic art, typical of his style to convey important message to students – ‘Assimilation of Knowledge and Open mind’ conveyed through the shape of the plaque, an open book. ‘Dedication and Focus’ depicted by Arjuna’s arrow and the fish eye is an illustration from a famous tale from Mahabharata.

Speaking at the occasion Ajit Rangnekar, Dean, ISB said, “The inauguration of our Mohali campus is an important milestone in the ISB’s eleven year successful history of setting benchmarks in the field of management education.  As we embark on our next phase of growth, we aim to strengthen our academic outreach, focus more on research and work closely with the government and industry to make a larger impact on industry, policy and the society we live in.”
The genesis of the ISB’s campus at Mohali dates back to the Prime Minister of India’s vision of developing a ‘Knowledge city’ in Mohali that would include a ‘premier management institute’. This vision was realised with the support from the Government of Punjab, generous contributions from four leading industrialists from the region. The ISB operates One School with two campuses in Hyderabad and Mohali and has a unified governance structure, with the ISB Executive Board overseeing and supporting both the campuses. Despite two locations, the school operates as a single unified entity with seamless integration across both the campuses.
 
Elaborating on this philosophy, Savita Mahajan, Deputy Dean and Chief Executive, ISB campus at Mohali said, “We are committed to ensure that both our campuses are well integrated and students  have the  same ISB experience across both campuses through the a world class curriculum and  faculty, inter-campus and international exchange programmes, and other co-curricular initiatives. We also follow an integrated admissions and placements process for our students.”

The Mohali campus furthers the ISB’s focus on strengthening research and has four institutes focusing on critical areas - Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Max Institute of Healthcare Management, Munjal Global Manufacturing Institute and Punj Lloyd Institute of Physical Infrastructure Management. The school has also established academic associations with MIT Sloan School of Management to support the institutes in Manufacturing Excellence and Physical Infrastructure Management and The Fletcher School at Tufts University for Public Policy. Meanwhile, The Wharton School has extended its support for the institute in Healthcare Management.

ISB Campus at Mohali
The Mohali campus became operational earlier this year with the commencement of the ISB’s flagship one year Post Graduate Programme (PGP) in Management in April. The present class comprises a total of 767 students, with 197 students studying at Mohali and 570 at the Hyderabad campus. The Mohali campus is spread across 70 acres, with green buildings, open spaces and a blend of modern and contemporary architecture. The campus is designed to meet LEED Gold standards and operate as a self-sustained campus. It is equipped with state-of-the-art learning facilities, including lecture theatres, a 500-seater auditorium, student and faculty housing, and other recreational facilities.

Extracts from speech by P Chidambaram, Hon’ble Union Minister of Finance
“I firmly believe that talent is evenly distributed throughout society. What is missing is opportunity. My deepest regret is that many of our universities are teaching shops, with poor infrastructure, outdated textbooks, poor pedagogy and methodology, and untrained teachers. What we need is world-class institutions. ISB is one of a handful of such institutions in India.”

“What is it that you want to be after you leave this campus? There will be a temptation to take a job in another part of the world. Seize the opportunity - but please remember, there's no other place in the world that can challenge you like India. The greatest challenge is building India.”

“I would love to have the chance to audit a lecture at ISB. And if you invite me to teach, I can teach you how to make mistakes.”

“I am sure that in the future you will return to your campus. I have returned to my own business school on a couple of occasions, and I believe that you can take yourself out of business school, but your business school will stay with you.”

Quote from Hon’ble Chief Minister of Punjab, Sardar Parkash Singh Badal
“ISB has been one of the most successful models of public and private partnerships in Punjab. I hope that ISB would be the new trendsetter and continues to invest its human resource to become a school at par with the best of global business schools.”

About the Indian School of Business (ISB) 
The ISB was established in 2001 with an aspiration to put India on the global map of management education. Over the years, the ISB has successfully pioneered several new trends in management education in India, and has firmly established itself as a world-class management institution. In 2008, the ISB became the youngest institution to be ranked among the Top 20, in the Global B-school Rankings by the Financial Times, London, and since then has been ranked consistently among the top B-schools globally. Recently, the ISB earned the distinction of becoming the first South Asian B-school to receive the AACSB accreditation. 

The ISB offers its flagship one year Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) besides the Post Graduate Programme in Management for Senior Executives (PGPMAX) and a bouquet of Executive Education Programmes that cater to top and middle management. The school also recently launched its Fellow Programme in Management (FPM). It has a strong pool of research-oriented resident faculty, several Centres of Excellence serving as a bridge between the industry and the academia. The school has over 4400+ Alumni spread across over 25 countries making an impact on the business and society. 

For more information, visit www.isb.edu