XLRI Jamshedpur (Photo: Muthuraja)
Like Mumbai’s SP Jain, XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, Jamshedpur too is planning to increase the student intake in its Post Graduate Programme in Business Management (BM) and Post Graduate Program in Human Resource Management (HRM) by 60 seats each starting 2013. The Institute will send in an approval application to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) requesting for an increase in the number of seats next year, Fr E Abraham, XLRI director told PaGaLGuY.

The current batch strength for both the programmes stands at 120 each. In anticipation of the expected batch increase, the institute has leased a 10-acre plot adjoining the current campus grounds from Tata Steel. Adding the new plot, XLRI will be spread over a land area of 41.6 acres in total. The institute has already started the construction of classrooms and hostels in the new land plot, which will help the institute accommodate the increased batch strength from next year onwards.

In addition to the increased batch strength, XLRI is also planning to increase the number of programmes as well as the faculty strength from next year onwards.

The new construction that has been undertaken will include a seven-storey hostel block with 380 single rooms, a seven-storey international hostel with 100 single rooms, a three-storey academic building that will have 17 classrooms and two training halls, said Fr CL George, dean of administration and finance. The total cost of construction, including acquiring the lease of the land, is estimated to be around Rs 54 crores. XLRIs internally generated revenue is being used for the project, Father George said.

According to the construction plans, the new hostel will be built as a large single complex, which will have two separate sections for boys and girls with a common mess and activities room. With a capacity to house 380 students, the new hostel will increase the total accommodation space in XLRI to 500 students. In addition, the new academic block will have four 150-seater classrooms in addition to thirteen 75-seater classrooms.

The international hostel, which will have a total of 100 rooms, will be specifically designed to meet the requirements of the foreign students that will come to the institute as a part of the student exchange programs. For example, the international hostel will be centrally air conditioned for the benefit of students of foreign origin. The international hostel will also accommodate the visiting corporate members to the institute. Also, the new construction will have two training halls that will be utilised by corporate participants during training.

The construction, which began in the middle of 2011, is scheduled to complete by December 31, 2012. We are hoping that by the time we send in our proposal for the increase in batch intake next year, the new construction will be complete, Father George said.