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Ranchi, Dec. 23: With the retail sector witnessing a steady boom, colleges and universities are cashing in on the demand for professionals.
Ranchi University (RU) and Institute of Science and Management, Pundag, have plans to start retail management courses from the next academic session, while two private institutes — Indian Institute of Job Oriented Training and Orion Centre Training Institute — have already introduced short-term programmes.
The dean of commerce and business management at RU, S.N.L. Das, said they were going to moot a proposal before the Academic Council to start a one-year diploma course in retail management from 2009.
“According to the modalities worked out, there will be 60 seats and the course fee will be Rs 40,000. The initiative is being taken considering the fact that a lot of multinational companies are setting up retail stores in the state and are looking for trained professionals to manage these stores,” Das said.
He added that a new centre, Institute of Management Studies, is coming up on the university premises, which would be on a par with Indian Institutes of Management.
“We are planning 10 additional postgraduate diploma courses in this centre and retail management will be the first one to be introduced,” Das said. The building is coming up on an area of 6,500sqft at a cost of Rs 1.67 crore.
R.A.K. Verma, the chairman of Institute of Science and Management, said: “We are planning to start a retail management course from the next academic session.”
The institute will offer two courses — a six-month course and a postgraduate diploma course of 18 months. Each will have 40 seats. The fee for the short-term course will be Rs 14,000, while the institute is working out the costs of the 18-month course.
Statistics show that more than 10-12 shopping malls have been opened in the city till now and the growth rate is estimated to be 30 to 40 per cent in the coming year. Apart from Reliance, Spencer and Big Bazaar that have already made forays in the state, Walmart and Pantaloons are expected to arrive soon.
