Planning to write XAT 2020? Have already written CAT 2019? Here’s some interesting news for you. XLRI Jamshedpur, one of the oldest institutes in India, will be opening their doors in Delhi NCR soon! Considered on par with IIM A, IIM B and IIM C, XLRI is a dream b-school for many. The institute is known for its excellent HR pedagogy, but wait, XLRI has a lot more to offer. In fact, with an average salary of 25 LPA, XLRI Jamshedpur is one of India’s most aspired b-schools. This means, with a new campus opening, students seem to have a number of new opportunities handed them. But wait, is the new campus as good an opportunity as it’s purported to be? Will you, the end student really get the benefit of the XLRI brand? That is what we explore in this article.
Highlights of XLRI’s New Campus
The XLRI Delhi NCR campus will accommodate 240 students in the first phase.
The new campus will host 60 students each for the business management program in the first phase to start with.
The new campus will have the same curriculum as the XLRI Jamshedpur campus.
XLRI Jamshedpur faculty will take classes on the new campus as well.
About the new XLRI campus
The fact that XLRI, which has been housed in the steel-clad walls of Jamshedpur, is finally branching out with a new campus is great news for MBA aspirants in India. This new campus will be housed at Jhajjar, 25 kms from Gurugram. In the first phase, 2 batches of 60 students each will be granted admission to this new campus for the business management program (2020-2022 batch)This means, you’ll have to include the XLRI Delhi campus in your application form while writing XAT 2020. This new state-of-the-art campus is being readied for the new batch of 240. Spread over 36.34 acres, XLRI must apply for AICTE certification for this campus. The good thing though, is that a gold-level green building certification has also been granted to the new campus. The pedagogy and professors, as well as curriculum at the new campus, will remain synonymous with the original. But how exactingly this will be followed remains to be seen. On the other hand, the one question that remains to be answered is that of placements.Moving on, XLRI has also laid a foundation stone for their new campus at Amravati. This shows that the b-school is serious about branching out and providing new opportunities to students all over India. This campus, spread across 50 acres is located in the Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh. This campus will have courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students alike and will have the capacity to accommodate 5000 students.
Our Analysis
While XLRI branching out in newer geographies and locations is great from a student’s perspective, a few doubts remain. One of the main reasons students choose to study an MBA from some of the top b-schools in India is the promise of placements. But when legacy institutes branch out and open up in new locations, not always do we see the same adherence to the brand values and brand name. Let’s compare XLRI’s new foray with other legacy institutes doing the same. Let’s look at a few cases:When IIFT branched out and opened its Kolkata campus, it successfully managed to transfer the IIFT Delhi brand’s reputation to the new campus. As a result, not only did the curriculum remain the same, the professors at the Delhi campus managed to teach and maintain the level of pedagogy at the new Kolkata campus too. Plus, the 2 campuses had a common placement process as well. This ensured equality, fairness and equal opportunities to students from both campuses.When FMS Delhi opened a new campus in the auspices of Banaras Hindu University though, in stark contrast to IIFT, they had a different set of faculty and an independent placement process. As a result, the new campus was unable to capitalise on the FMS reputation and eventually had to be shut.There’s also the instance of MDI Murshidabad, MDI Gurgoan’s offspring. The new campus was unable to capitalise on the MDI brand successfully, with no faculty or placement sharing. As a result, the new brand suffered.Coming back to XLRI, while the b-school has stated that they will share faculty between institutes, the placement process remains unclear. If placement and faculty sharing can be managed efficiently, XLRI Delhi will probably rank as one of the best institutes for MBA in the near future. What do you think is the best route for XLRI? Tell us your opinions on this development in the comments. And we hope you didn’t forget to tick on XLRI Delhi when applying for XAT!
Meanwhile, preparing for XAT 2020? Here are a few articles you can check out to aid your preparation