Seat of Enlightenment

Located in the small, religious town of Bodh Gaya, the new IIM is fast emerging as a major B-school defying all odds

- ARNAB DUTTA

A VAST TRACT OF land filled with shrubs and the occasional centuries-old tree. Two four-storied dilapidated hostel buildings occupied by former students of Magadh University, and one building with two and a half rooms, in equally poor condition. This was the scene that greeted Vinita S. Sahay when she took charge of the newly-founded Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bodh Gaya in February 2018.

Inaugurated in August 2015, the B-school had been mentored by the premier IIM Calcutta for nearly two and a half years following its inception. But there were teething issues. No full-time director. No senior administrative staff. No permanent faculty. Plus, a joust with occupants of two hostels belonging to Magadh University, who refused to move despite the 118-acre land having been transferred to the institute. By the time Sahay took over, and when it became an institute in its own right, the first batch of MBA students (2015-17) had already graduated.