Odisha (until a month ago Orissa) is better known for the architectural wonder of the Sun Temple at Konark and the beaches of Puri. But a push from the state government, cheap land prices, a pool of students from the neighbouring states of Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and the North East as well as investments by large corporate houses are slowly changing the eastern state’s identity. After Hyderabad, it is Odisha which is steadily becoming the focal point for educational institutes to set up their campuses. PaGaLGuY has fished out a document belonging to the Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) which shows a record of at least 54 educational institutes (technical and vocational) applying for land allotment in the state. According to the document, land costs vary between Rs 10 lakhs and Rs 100 lakhs (per acre) depending on the location.

Within the last two years, the state has seen institutes such as the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) starting their campuses in Bhubaneshwar. Now, there are b-schools that are setting up institutes in the state as well. The government’s support for this move is explained by Ratnakar Rout, Joint Secretary, Department of Technical Education, Odisha. We want to make Bhubaneshwar an educational hub, he said. The government wants institutes of international repute to start up so that students from the entire eastern belt can come here for education. Rout added that many industrial houses, investors and institutes (including foreign universities) are also interested to start operating from Odisha.

Who’s joining the party

Ten kilometres from the bustling city of Bhubaneshwar is the 16-acre campus of the International Management Institute (IMI). The road leading there is bumpy and pot-holed. Opposite IMI one can spot the signboard of the Birla Institute of Management and Technology (BIMTECH) that is still under construction on its alloted 30 acres. Both are known for their better known counterparts at Delhi and Noida. But from this year’s academic session, IMI has already started its operations in Bhubaneshwar with just 15 students. Sri Sri University’s (SSU) sprawling 185 acre campus is on the bank of the Kathjodi river, also 24 kilometres from Bhubaneshwar. SSU plans to start its business management course by 2012. The Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, is in the process of acquiring land in Odisha, for starting its campus from 2013. The state government has already granted university status to Centurion University and ICFAI University. Why are institutes of management suddenly moving eastward? What is the reason for their choosing Odisha over other states?

Dr Somayajulu Garimella, director of IMI Bhubaneshwar, says that it is primarily the Odisha government’s proactive stance towards investment in the state that is paving the way for this migration. The government is acting like a catalyst and there is fantastic support from them in terms of clearances, said Garimella. The state is also demonstrating a spurt in its economic growth. The industrial growth due to private companies like the Vedanta group, Jindal group, Indal Aluminium, Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO) and Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company (TELCO) and the advent of IT companies like Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Wipro have put the state on the fast track to economic development. According to Dr Harivansh Chaturvedi, director BIMTECH, the saturation of b-schools in other states, low living costs and burgeoning middle class population of urban Odisha are some other reasons for b-schools to choose to come to the state.

IMI Bhubaneshwar’s campus with traditional Odiya motif on its walls

Land allotment

The Odisha government has been cooperative in terms of allotting land at cheaper prices, say educational administrators. The government is friendly and we were alloted 30 acres of land at the cost of Rs 8 lakhs per acre, said Chaturvedi. This was in stark contrast to the price of land in neighbouring states such as Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, where, according to Chaturvedi, land prices can go upto Rs 2 crores for an acre. We should not invest too much on physical infrastructure like land, as it is expensive, added Chaturvedi.

All good intentions aside, do hasty approvals also lead to decisions that the Odisha government might regret later? UK-based Vedanta group has already been a controversial name in the state. When the group purchased 6,300 acres of land from the Odisha government for setting up a university with Rs 15-crore, two public litigation lawsuits were filed against it in the Odisha high court.

One petitioner argued that the land itself was disputed as it had originally been earmarked for a temple. The other petitioner had an objection against the environmental harm the enormous university would cause to the eco-system of its surroundings. The Odisha High Court ruled in favour of the petitioners and the land was declared as illegally purchased. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik faced much criticism for his hasty approval of the land. Vedanta group’s non-profit avatar, the Anil Agarwal Foundation and the Odisha government had approached the Supreme court challenging the high court order. In January this year, the Supreme Court ordered the state government to maintain a status quo on the acquisition of 6,300 acres by Vedanta.

Existing players

Bhubaneshwar’s oldest b-school, the Regional College of Management, was established in 1982. Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneshwar (XIMB) began in 1987. Fr PD Thomas, dean of administration, XIMB, comments on the number of newer b-schools in the city. As new b-schools come into the picture, there is bound to be some healthy competition in terms of academics, faculty and infrastructure and it will also give students more opportunities, he said.

But Fr Thomas is also skeptical that the rising interest might not be sustainable in many ways. Are there enough native students who would be willing to stay within the state instead of going to other parts of India for education?, he asks. Last year many engineering and management colleges were not able to fill up the required number of seats, he adds. Many new institutes don’t even have a proven track record, so the students will be skeptical of their academic credentials. Besides, in terms of placements, although there are enough companies in the East, they will choose to come to the more established b-schools, he added.

Harivansh Chaturvedi has answers for some of these doubts. Our target is not just the local students, but the aim is to tap the pan-India market, he said. Also, in terms of competition we are looking at the future and within five years there is a possibility that the government might allow foreign universities to set foot in this part of the country. BIMTECH and IMI are also not very worried about the initial years in terms of placements as their Delhi campuses will mentor the ones in Bhubaneshwar until they can stand on their own feet.

The Sri Sri University under construction

Sri Sri University, which does not enjoy the reputation that IMI or BIMTECH have as far as business education is concerned, has other ways of getting their graduates jobs. The ‘Art of Living’ community boasts of one of the largest corporate following, informed Malaya Malla, marketing manager of the university. The university has received strong commitments from corporates for offering summer projects and final placements. But with so many b-schools in the same vicinity, the demand and supply equation of managers is questionably tilted against demand. Ratnakar Rout is confident that no matter what happens, the students and the state will benefit. It’s a struggle for existence and when there is competition, quality will thrive, he said.

In spite of all the conversation around a developing state, is it that this development is centered only around Odisha’s cities? Fr PD Thomas is concerned. It’s only the eastern part of the state that is being developed, he informs. What about the under-developed north-western or southern parts of Odisha?