Summary
Rs 30 crore investment for new campus, says IIHM chairman and chief mentor Suborno Bose
IIHM incubation centre SAHAS to extend funding to young entrepreneurs outside the institute
North Bengal will soon get a new address for studies in hospitality management as the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) sets up a campus there with help from the West Bengal government.
The North Bengal chapter of the institute is expected to roll out its courses by August 2022 from a temporary address but the new campus will take a while longer to come up.
Suborno Bose, chairman and chief mentor of IIHM, shared his plans for the second campus at the Bengal Global Business Summit in Science City. “We would be opening our second campus in North Bengal with an investment of Rs 30 crore. The second campus (of IIHM) was proposed by the West Bengal government. North Bengal needs a lot of hospitality workplaces. There are a lot of tourism opportunities there. The campus will be either in Siliguri or Jalpaiguri. The West Bengal government has offered us two places. We have not yet decided which place but it will be done according to the logistics and availability of the space.”
Initially, IIHM will make use of space provided in a government-run college to start off classes. “We can start off with the course by August 2022. We can also start the construction parallelly this year itself,” Bose said.
Investment in education is the need of the hour and the future of West Bengal.
The sixth edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit paid special attention to education and its future, keeping in mind the impact of the pandemic, lockdown and online learning.
Recognising the urgency, Bose spoke about investments in the field of hospitality learning. “The International Institute of Hotel Management is one of the largest hospitality education institutes in Asia. We have 12 campuses in India and five outside India. We have just opened one in Singapore. We are absolutely committed to developing hospitality education. “
Entrepreneurship has been an emerging trend for some time and most institutes are preparing their students to be business-ready through entrepreneurship clubs, sessions, classes or even funding. “We plan to expand our incubation centre called SAHAS for hospitality graduates who want to do something of their own through start-ups. It could be a business, or food truck or restaurant or anything. It has garnered an investment of Rs 25 crore. We have dispensed over Rs 2 crore in the last two years.”
Earlier, SAHAS funded only IIHM students but now it is opening up to others as well. “Anybody interested to get some funding can come to our website and apply there,” Bose said.
The evening saw discussions and strategic advances towards continuing education in the post- pandemic world in the presence of West Bengal education minister Bratya Basu.
Last updated on 21 Apr 2022
