Adani ropes in Dholakia for education foray

The Adani Group, which plans to get into the education sector in a big way, has decided to rope in former director of Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A), Bakul Dholakia as advisor for its newest foray.

Under the plans for the education sector, which are still at a discussion stage, the Adani Group will establish an Institute of Infrastructure Management, a university and an Adani Knowledge Centre.

Dholakia, who completed his five year term at IIM-A in the capacity of a director in October, has taken up the Adani offer as a full-time assignment and has decided to be on leave without pay from IIM-A, retaining his lien on his faculty position at the institute.

Speaking to Business Standard, Bakul Dholakia confirmed that he had decided to join Adani by the end of November.

"Apart from being an advisor on business strategy for the Adani group, what excited me most was the educational initiatives that the group is planning to undertake," said Dholakia.

Adani Group is setting up a full fledged Infrastructure Management Institute in the 500 acre Shantigram Township that it is developing on Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway at Ahmedabad.

The Institute of Infrastructure Management is set to be be a specialist institute in the field of infrastructure, which Dholakia said, is a crucial sector currently and the years to come.

"Internationally, infrastructure management schools have good expertise and with such an institute established in the country, I am confident we will be able to ensure quality collaborations with each other," he added.

In addition to the institute, to cater to its own needs, it is also setting up a large facility to train its own executives in a centre called the Adani Knowledge Centre also in Shantigram Township.

Both these institutes, in their formative period, will be under the advisory of Dholakia. The university being planned would be a cluster of institutions hosting undergraduate as well as postgraduate courses in engineering, management and other fields

"An Economist of such eminence as Dr. Dholakia, is someone who will be able to guide us not only in how to strategise our present businesses but also in how to strategise our future growth," said Gautam Adani, chairman, Adani Group.