IIM-B to amend MoA to pursue overseas plans

Bangalore: Close on the heels of human resource minister Arjun Singh's assertion that prestigious business schools could set up overseas affiliates only after amending their memorandum of association (MoA), the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, has decided to amend its MoA.

The board of governors of IIM Bangalore, today gave its assent to start the process of amending its MoA to facilitate the expansion of its activities outside India.

Briefing the media after the meeting, Prakash G Apte, director, IIM Bangalore, said the MoA signed in 1973, when the institute was established, did not include a clause about expanding its activities outside the country.

This is the second time in two years that the HR ministry and the IIMs have appeared on a collision course, the earlier being Murli Manohar Joshi's ill-conceived diktat to the IIMs to slash their fees.

This time it was IIM Bangalore's move to set up an affiliate institution in Singapore that had earned it the HR ministry's displeasure. The ministry, however, quickly soft-pedalled the issue by allowing overseas expansions after suitable amendments to the institute's MoA.