IIM-A's students keen to work on Telangana's investment promotion programme

More than 30 applications were for internship programme being offered by Telangana government

Students of IIM-Ahmedabad, one of India's top management institutes, are taking a cue from the recent Ease Of Doing Business (EODB) rankings as a handful of them prefer a government assignment over a corporate job.

More than 30 applications were received from IIM-A  students for the maiden internship programme being offered by Telangana government as a part of its plans to create a cadre of professionals for the task of attracting investments.  

"We have received an overwhelming number of more than 30 applications from IIM-A students. It is a big response by any measure, even compared to that of a campus hiring by an MNC bank. It also reflects the interest the upcoming MBA students have in public policy, which is a positive sign,"  Arvind Kumar, principal secretary of Telangana Industries Department told Business Standard. Once the selection process is completed, they will be put on specific assignments, according to him.

Arvind Kumar has recently given a presentation at IIM-A campus explaining internship and lateral hiring plans of Telangana government after it was decided to tap the required professional talent from the country's premier management institute.

The department would select 10-15 students out of these applicants for a 10-week internship programme and they would also be considered for lateral recruitment meant for a dedicated team of experts to work on investment promotion. 

After putting two and a half years of effort in creating business-friendly practices that propelled the state to reach the top EODB rank along with its sibling Andhra Pradesh state, it is now time to institutionalise the system of investment promotion, say officials.

"You cannot expect the industry secretary leaving every month for ten days to get investments, that is not the right way," Kumar said while adding that the state government was in the process of appointing experienced professionals for the 14 priority sectors to get the investments. 

The state of Andhra Pradesh too has done something similar recently. It has recruited 12 students from Indian School of Business(ISB) by offering industry average salaries and appointed them as advisors to the AP chief minister.