Steel city-based premier B-school XLRI will hold its 64th annual Convocation on February 20 in a virtual mode to bid farewell to the 2018-20 batch, the institute announced on Friday.

Sanjiv Mehta, chairman and managing director of Hindustan Unilever Ltd will be addressing the first-ever virtual ceremony as the chief guest.

The institute will present graduating certificates to a total of 527 students, including 182 and 180 students of Postgraduate Programmes in Management - BM and HRM of 2018-2020 batch; 104 students of 15-months PGDM (General Management) Program; 13 students of Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) and 48 students of 2017 -2020 batch of PGDM-BM Programme (Evening).

“Convocation is the most significant event in the academic journey for every student, as it is the culmination of all the efforts put in by an individual during their time at the XLRI campus. Considering the current Covid-19 pandemic, we have decided to shift the 64th annual convocation to the virtual medium,” XLRI director Fr. P. Christie said.

XLRI Board of Governors Chairman T.V. Narendran said that for seven decades, the institute has held on to its mission of proffering world-class education across various management-centric programmes.

“XLRI diligently strives to create a value-based and ethics-driven teaching and learning environment while underscoring the need for all-round development. This emphasis on inculcating important core-values is what sets XLRI apart from other B-schools in the country,” he said.

XLRI , a premier, private management institute of the country was established in 1949 and has grown into a top-ranking business management school of international repute over the years.