Jaipur is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan in Northern India. As of 2011, The Population of the Jaipur Metropolitan area is 3,646,590. Jaipur is the 10th largest city of India according to census of 2011. Jaipur is known as the Pink City of India. Jaipur is among few cities referred as educational hub since the city includes more than 15 government & private Universities and many other educational institutions including more than 40 engineering colleges. The reasons why you should consider Jaipur for MBA are as follows:
All Big brands are available: Getting a qualification from a well known educational brand has become a new trend in the professional education sector. Jaipur provides you the big, reputed and established brands like Amity, Manipal and ICFAI etc. offering their management programmes. The courses offered by these big brands in Jaipur costs to students less as compared to their main establishment from where they became esteemed. The difference in fee is as much as 30% to 50% less cost in Jaipur. This is becoming an important reason why students are coming to Jaipur for their MBA.
Accommodation: Jaipur offers good locality to choose for student accommodations all around the city. Popular areas include Raja Park, Malviya Nagar, Lal Kothi, Tonk Phatak, Bani Park etc. and their nearby localities. Almost out station students live in these mentioned areas as they are normally in the centre of the city and well connected to all parts of city.
Cost: Cost can be divided in parts including accommodation, food, transport etc. Though it is always recommended that the out station students should stay in their respective institution’s Hostel but many of them choose their own accommodation to experience the city life style. For them, numerous PGs, private hostels are available. If we calculate the average rent of a student accommodation (AC/Non – AC) in the above mentioned areas, it costs in the bracket of Rs. 3500 p.m. to Rs. 5500 p.m. for twin sharing basis. Students from outstations normally rent a flat and live in a group of 4 – 5 students and it brings the cost around Rs. 2500/-p.m. for them in the same localities. Normally the outstation students take the services of a Tiffin center which costs around Rs. 2500 p. m. to Rs. 3500 p. m.. City transport facility in Jaipur is among the best of the bests. There is an availability of concession to the students even if they are travelling in private city buses when they show their authentic student ID. It brings down the transportation cost. The developed phases of Metro project are expected to run their services by end of August 2014 which will in turn boost the connectivity among different localities in the city. One may expect the overall monthly expenditure in the bracket of Rs. 6,500/- p.m. to Rs. 8,500/- except the leisure expenses. This is in turn is much economical OR “cheaper” as compared to the other educational hubs like Delhi NCR, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad from the cost point of view. Normally the other cities lie in the range of Rs. 8000 p.m. to Rs. 12,000 p.m. for the same overall expenses except leisure.
Corporate and Industrial climate: As Jaipur serves as one of the big cities in North West India, many companies have their Regional head quarters and corporate offices in Jaipur. Big companies like BOSCH, Genpact, NBC, Shree Cements, Sony ericsson etc. are having their sound presence in Jaipur. Jaipur also is one of the prominent destinations in India having huge export activities in the sectors like Handicarfts, Textiles and Gems and Jewellery. They provide good opportunities to MBA graduates with International Business specialization. Within 200 Kms. Of city’s range, NCR localities like Kotputli, Neemrana etc. are becoming industrialized like anything. Many companies like Hero Honda and all are investing thousands of rupees in their projects and it would also impact the employment prospects of future MBA passouts. As the government of Rajasthan is run by the same party who will be ruling the central government, the combination makes this capital state more prone to have good inward investment in future. The developing Special Economic Zones are all set to welcome the new changes happening in the political scenario. Mahindra SEZ located here is also one of the largest IT SEZ in India. Overall the city is very promising in terms of corporate and industrial climate.
Placements: In past 4 years, I have seen the following companies in Jaipur recruiting our MBA students: Vodafone, Axis Bank, Airtel, Ambuja Cements, Shree Cements, Asian Paints, BMW, Ultratech cements, Wipro, Deloitte, India bulls, Trident group of Hotels, Genpact, BOSCH etc. From marketing and finance jobs point of view, Jaipur placed students get a package of minimum 3 Lacs p.a. in the foresaid companies which is not bad because their investment is also not much when we compare to other cities like Pune, Bangalore, Delhi NCR. A package of 4.0 Lac p.a. in Pune OR A package of 5 Lac p.a. in Bangalore after spending 10 – 12 lacs for MBA is not a wise decision. HR and IB jobs are normally less paid all around India. Jaipur, one may find the starting package from 1.8 L p.a. to 3.0 L p.a. for a fresher. It is same even for the financial capital cities like Mumbai. Overall one can say that placements are good and improving every year but student’s quality opting for MBA is going down resulting in the overall bad fame of MBA graduate’s unemployment across India. I have never seen a student in last 4 years having good conceptual clarity and good communication skills sitting unemployed.
Leisure: Jaipur is the home of many small castles, forts and historical places one can visit. All big hotels like Fairmont, Le Meridien, Clarks Amer, Mariott and many more are present in the city. It also homes restaurants, food joints at par with any big city in India. City’s night life style is also blooming and the lounges and Discs available in the reach of the people living here making it more leisurely. They are not over prices too as compared to the same available in Pune, Bangalore and Delhi NCR etc.
Health & Safety issues: In case of any health Or accidental emergency, there are several excellent hospitals in Jaipur that one can choose including Santokba Memorial Hospital near Rambagh Palace crossing, Fortis Hospital on JLN Road and SMS etc. From safety point of view, especially for girls, the localities where the PGs and private hostels are located are much safer as compared to Delhi NCR because these are dense residential areas where numerous families have been living and they have opened their own PGs and hostels with good security measures.
Connectivity: Jaipur International Airport is situated in Sanganer, about 7-10 km from Jaipur Terminal 1 is 10 km from the main city and both domestic and international flights operate from here; whereas Terminal 2 is 7 km from the main city and only domestic flights operate from here. This being the only international airport in Rajasthan is well connected with all major cities of India. From Jaipur, air Connectivity is available to cities like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Jammu, Mumbai, Pune, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Kolkata. International Flights include Dubai, Muscat, Sharjah. Railway is another option for Jaipur Connectivity. Jaipur Railway Station (Jaipur Junction – JP) is the largest of all railway stations in Jaipur. Jaipur is the headquarters of North Western Railway zone. Stations connected to Jaipur include Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Indore, Ratlam Junction, Chandigarh, Kota, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Gandhinagar, Pune, Ujjain, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Nagpur, Itarsi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Patna, Trivendrum etc. For road connectivity, the main depot of jaipur is Sindhi Camp. RSRTC operates bus service to all the parts of Rajasthan and New delhi, Uttar pradesh, Haryana, Madhya pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu Kashmir, Chandigarh. These the best ways for jaipur connectivity. Jaipur to Delhi NCR 24 X 7 buses are available. Well connected to Delhi and Gurgaon which are the corporate hubs.
Mr. Himanshu Vyas
Faculty
Amity Business School
Amity University Rajasthan