Mr. Purendu Kumar spoke on “Changing Retail Landscape in India”. As a practicing consultant himself, Mr. Kumar covered the Retail Sector in India from past to present and to the future. Starting with the history of retail in India, Mr. Purendu Kumar reflected on how retail has changed over a period of time and is poised to change more in the near future. He talked about a retail revolution on the anvil on similar lines what we witnessed of IT in 1990’s. He talked about major players already in the arena in India and all those who want to be part of the Indian retail revolution. Mr. Kumar shared the strategies major players are adopting to make their presence in the Indian market, their strengths and weaknesses. He also informed the audience that rising retail trade in India does not mean the end of local ration shop. He elaborated the fact that the market potential in India is huge and has space for everyone; the big retail giants as well as the small time shopkeeper in our neighbourhoods. He gave insightful snippets of the current state of Indian economy and the reasons why retail has a definite future in India. Finally he touched upon the challenges faced by retail in India and the effect it will have on the strategies of the retail giants in India. This enthralling and informative presentation was attended by participants of EXPGP, PGP and eminent faculty members. This was followed by question and answer and the session concluded with a grand standing ovation by the audience.
The final section after the question answer session was presentation of a memento to Mr. Purendu Kumar by the EXPGP chair Prof. Ashraf Rizvi. The eventful Day finally concluded with a vote of thanks from the student fraternity.
EXPGP program in one of the flagship programs of IIM Indore and was started in 2002. The entry to this course is through CAT/GMAT and applicants need to have at least 5 years of industry experience prior to joining the course. The program runs for a period of 18 months and has campus components, where students are exposed to classroom teaching and off campus component where students do projects and apply their learning in the industry. The program has been well received by the industry.