Pic by Soubhik Chatterjee
The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C) is thinking of drawing in corporates and its alumni base to seek funds for completing some of its infrastructure projects. According to sources, it was at a meeting held at the Chennai Chapter of IIM-C Alumni Association, a few weeks ago, that the IIM-C director Shekhar Chaudhari made a plea for funds. He reportedly told the audience that although the institute was self-sufficient in fund-generation and earning good revenue, it still needed about Rs 50 crores to complete the ongoing projects on the campus.
The infrastructure projects which jointly run an estimated bill of some Rs 200 crores include the building of some 500,000 sq ft of additional space, new classrooms and new hostels. Sources add that the additional intake of students (from 260 to 450-odd) has also added to the stress on the infrastructure. It is learnt that IIM-C has been spending from its corpus for the various infrastructure projects and now needs to replenish the amount. There were talks that the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development was also expected to provide Rs 40 crore for the projects but PaGaLGuY was not able to confirm whether the money was handed over or not.
As yet, however, the institute has not formally approached any corporate or alumni for this purpose.
When asked, a senior official from IIM-C told PaGaLGuY that the request for funds was made at an informal gathering and in a casual way. It is not that we are officially going out and asking for money from companies or our alumni. It was just mentioned by the director at a meeting. Besides, the meeting also was not a official gathering, just with our alumni, he said. The official added that since the remark for more funds was made casually, it does not make sense writing about it either.
However an article published on the IIM-C website discusses the same issue. The article clearly states, quoting an official from IIM-C, that the institute has so far spent from its “internal accruals and corpus. We would like to have some balance in our corpus built over the years and hence the decision to tap the corporates.”
Among the many plans that IIM-C has drawn up, the main ones envision two large hostels accommodating about 175 students in private rooms with attached balconies. A multi-level student common facility with two levels of dining, seating for 200 students on each floor and a large recreation area on the top floor have also been planned. Besides, it is learnt that an executive centre with 200 suites and rooms, having training and syndicate rooms and well-fitted executive dining and recreation areas is under construction. A new academic wing was opened earlier this year which contains amphitheater lecture halls, computer laboratories, incubation areas, faculty offices, classrooms and syndicate rooms on five levels.