IIM-A launches real estate courses to bridge industry gap

Beginning the current year, IIM-A has kickstarted a course on real estate in the form of an elective course as part of the regular courses being offered by it. Of course, this is not a degree program. Rather, these are individual elective courses offered within the MBA programs.

According to Statista Insights, India stands third globally in terms of real estate value ($41 trillion) just behind China ($ 136 trillion and the US ($120 trillion). The share of commercial real estate (an area that requires very specialized knowledge of real estate) has been increasing exponentially in India.

However, none of the top business schools offers degree programs in real estate. IIM Ahmedabad has launched four elective courses in the real estate domain that are well subscribed. IIMB offers real estate elective too. Some other institutions such as CEPT University, NICMAR University, RICS School of Build Environment, NMIMS, etc. offer real estate programs. But the supply of higher education falls short of a gaping demand.

In the lack of indigenous education, the real estate sector in India has traditionally recruited students trained abroad. Times have changed! While IIMA offers generalist MBA programs, students delve deep into some areas of their interest. Real estate is one of them. IIMA now produces top-quality real estate specialists through its suite of core and elective courses across various MBA programs (1-year MBA-PGPX, 2-year MBA-PGP, and 2-year MBA-FABM). These bright students not only acquire globally relevant real estate competencies; but also promise a sound grounding in the local contexts.

Talking to Bizz Buzz, Prof Prashant Das of IIM-A said, “We are proud to announce that ten IIMA students have earned the Alpha Sigma Gamma (International Real Estate Honour) from the American Real Estate Society (IIM-A, MBA programs, ARES) this year. This is the first time outside of the US/Switzerland that students are being recognized for their academic and scholarly achievements of real estate by this internationally leading organization.”

Prof Das, who will soon take over as the Chair of Finance area at IIMA, added, “Although I love teaching core finance and financial accounting courses, my heart stays with the real estate discipline.”

Dr Mona Shah, Founder and Director of Vayati Systems and Research Ltd, said, “Real estate has been a discipline derived from allied fields such as urban planning, finance, and economics. However one needs to add the elements of anthropology, law and management aspects to enrich the understanding of how the sector works. Therefore, to nurture sectoral efficiency and professionalism, India needs to systematically develop its real estate curricula.

The education-occupation mismatch adversely impacts the wages in developing country like India… 26 per cent of the working age people have no higher education.

Prof Stephanie Yates (Univrsity of Alabama at Birmingham), The President of the Alpha Sigma Gamma said, “Alpha Sigma Gamma is an international real estate honour society created in 1993 to recognize the academic and scholarly achievements of real estate students around the world.”

The Education track organized at the thirt-second Annual American Real Estate Society Conference (2016) emphasized that the study of real estate should not be considered an isolated field.

Students who earn this distinction set themselves apart from their peers and join an elite group of real estate professionals. We are delighted to have a chapter of ASG at IIM Ahmedabad. This partnership allows us to work together to bolster real estate education in the region and disseminate information regarding the many opportunities in this field, he added.

RV Verma, ex-MD of NHB and Forman Chairman of AU Small Finance Bank praised IIM Ahmedabad’s efforts on launching real estate courses on LinkedIn, “The introduction of a specialised Course in real estate at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India is by all means a great news in all respects… there’s a huge institutional gap in the property and real estate sector.”

Building careers for industry professionals and specialists will develop a cadre of experts in the country, in turn creating a huge impact on the property eco system, creating a host of positive externalities. Given the fragmented state of the real estate industry and somewhat piecemeal nature of policy making, such an institute is both a regulatory and a developmental need. Will greatly improve efficiency and competitiveness of the real estate industry, he added.