JD Birla Institute, department of management, an A-grade organisation accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, introduced the bachelor of business administration (BBA) course in 2002. The three-year honours course is affiliated to Jadavpur University (JU).

The BBA course is divided into six semesters and specialisations are offered in marketing and finance. A unique feature of the course is that it is taught in the afternoon. “This allows students to concurrently pursue other specialised professional courses such as in information technology,” says professor Ranee Kaur Banerjee, a faculty member of the institute.

One needs to have at least 50 per cent in Plus Two to apply. Though it is not mandatory, but keeping the nature of course in mind it is advantageous to have maths in Plus Two. The students are selected on the basis of the institute’s own entrance examination and personal interview. There are seats for about 160 students and the course fee is a little above Rs 2.5 lakh.

The BBA programme has been developed based on the recent trend of management studies. The first two years form the foundation of the business administration course. In the third year, final-year students specialise in their chosen fields. There are also provisions for internship and project work to enable students to apply classroom teachings to real-life situations.

All the classrooms are air-conditioned and equipped with modern facilities. There are 20 faculty members who have both industry and academic experience. “We sold over 1,100 application forms last year and that itself speaks about the demand for our course,” says Banerjee.

The institute has a state-of-the-art library and has an impressive collection of over 16,000 books, besides professional journals, CDs, magazines and newspapers. Apart from these, it has 46 terminals with the latest configuration, and e-learning platforms such as Ebsco and Indiastat.com, CMI ejournals and Sage.

“Our management programme is the preferred choice for students because our BBA programme is designed to strike a balance between theory and real-life business operations from a global perspective,” says Asit Datta, director.

Besides studies, a host of extracurricular activities such as corporate quiz, annual sports and talent competitions keep the students busy throughout the year. “In February this year, we organised a national seminar on rural marketing where stalwarts from various fields were invited,” says Banerjee.

Though the institute has its own placement cell, there is as yet no provision for campus interviews. The placement cell only guides the students in getting jobs. “Nearly 80 per cent of our students want to pursue higher studies after completing bachelors degree in business administration. Most of them get through to good institutes such as XLRI, Narsi Monji, ICFAI, Amity University and some of them even go abroad,” says Banerjee.

Students also have the option of studying masters in management administration (MMA) from the sister institute, Birla School of Management, which is on the same campus.

Former students recall their association with the institute with affection. “The three years I spent in J D Birla Institute were very enriching. The presentations we had to make in class helped to improve our public speaking skills to a great extent. I learnt the ropes of marketing, which is now helping me to run my father’s advertising agency efficiently,” says Prateek Lohia, a former student.

SHARMISTHA DAS

Vital Statistics

WHAT IS IT? A private management institute in Calcutta

WHO’S THE BOSS? Asit Datta is the director

Where is it? LN.Birla Building 1, Moira Street, Calcutta-700016.,
Phone: 22811438 Website: www. jdbimanagement. org.in

Pros
Good infrastructure, located in the middle of the city, affiliated to Jadavpur University

CONS
No campus interview, no hostel facility