Summary
All founding professors from the three institutes spoke about their experience in the incubation period of the programme
The PGPEX-VLM was perhaps the most audacious experiment of its time - involving three of the premier institutes of the country - IIM Calcutta, IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras, targeted at the triple bottom line
VLM NEXUS'22, the 15-year celebrations of the PGPEX-VLM programme, which was attended by more than 200 people, was held on March 6, 2022, heralding a new era in the programme’s history. The brainchild of India's erstwhile President, the Late APJ Abdul Kalam and professor Shoji Shiba, the postgraduate programme for executives for visionary leadership in manufacturing (PGPEX-VLM) was perhaps the most audacious experiment of its time - involving three of the premier institutes of the country - IIM Calcutta, IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras, targeted at the triple bottom line.
The event saw the presence of eminent guests from the industry including, Peyush Bansal (CEO – Lenskart), Amitabh Saran (CEO – Altigreen Propulsion Labs), and Jyoti Kumar Agarwal (CFO – IndiGrid).
The event was inaugurated by Uttam Kumar Sarkar (director – IIM Calcutta), Sumanta Basu (chairperson, PGPEX-VLM programme), Manish Thakur (dean – NI & ER IIM Calcutta), Bhaskar Chakrabarti (dean-academics, IIM Calcutta), Deepu Philip and BV Phani (coordinator, IIT Kanpur), Arshinder Kaur and Lata Dyaram (coordinator, IIT Madras), G Sunderraman from CII, professors Sarita Nagpal, TT Narendran, Asok K Mittal, Peeyush Mehta, Kripa Shanker, Bodhibrata Nag, RN Sengupta, Professor Rahul Marathe (all founding members of VLM programme), existing members of the VLM committee across three institutes and all alumni of the programme.
The celebrations began with a short recapitulation of the VLM journey from its first batch to the current where the director of IIM Calcutta, programme chairperson, and the coordinators from IITK and IITM addressed the gathering re-emphasising the uniqueness of the programme and its importance in the evolving landscape of Indian manufacturing.
Bansal elaborated on how manufacturing in India has accelerated in the post-pandemic period and discussed the role of leadership in creating a conducive work environment for the development of world-class manufacturing in India. Saran spoke about the startup and entrepreneurial journey in the last mile transport and the associated importance of clean energy. He also said that startups do not fail due to starvation, but due to indigestion.
Agarwal highlighted the requirements of an adequately trained workforce to bridge the skill gap for India’s aspirational journey from the top five economies to the world's top three economies. Sunderraman from CII advised the graduating students to use the learnings from the three institutes as Lego blocks to build their careers. Nagpal shared her experience during the initial formative years of structuring the programme.
All founding professors from the three institutes spoke about their experience in the incubation period of the programme with the dignitaries expressing their best wishes to the graduating batch. The event concluded with a promise to leverage technology and leadership to establish India as a manufacturing superpower.
Last updated on 09 Mar 2022
