Indian institutes rush for global accreditation

EQUIS accreditation has been granted to only IIM Bangalore and IIM Ahmedabad so far

Indian institutes are increasingly applying for international accreditation, including from bodies like the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), Association of MBAs (AMBA) and EQUIS, for getting into the list of global schools having coveted accreditation.

International Management Institute, Delhi, recently got the AMBA accreditation and is planning to apply for AACSB. Pritam Singh, director general, IMI, said they were one of the few institutes to get AMBA. “It is prestigious to have an international accreditation, as it proves you have standards matching the global level,” he said.

While applications for AACSB have increased, getting an accreditation may not be easy. According to Gurumurthy Kalyanaram, dean, University Research at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), and professor and management consultant, very few Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs) have applied for AACSB and even if they do, it be may be challenging to get the accreditation.

AMBA has also seen a rise in applications. Carol Turner, spokesperson for AMBA, said five business schools in India have received AMBA accreditation — IIM-Kozhikode, IIM-Lucknow, IMI, Delhi, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, and SP Jain Institute of Management and Research.

Turner said there were more business schools in India looking to gain global accreditation, and the number of business schools applying for Association of MBAs has increased in the last two years.

EQUIS accreditation is given by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), and this has been granted to only IIM Bangalore and IIM Ahmedabad.

While AMBA and AACSB have gained relevance, others like ABET haven't seen many Indian applications. ABET is a nonprofit, non-governmental organisation that accredits college and university programmes in the disciplines of applied science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology. From India, only VIT University and SRM University (Kattankulathur campus ) in Tamil Nadu have ABET accreditation.