To cater to the growing demand for trained professionals in India’s insurance industry, the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta has collaborated with the ICICI Prudential and has asked it to design a course suited for the insurance sector. The insurance industry in India is growing at a yearly rate of 110 per cent and therefore, the demand for trained professionals in this field is high.

The IIM course will try to cater to this demand. Speaking on this issue, Ashok Banerjee, the chairman (consultancy and management development programme) of IIM Calcutta, said, ‘The number of insurance companies In India has grown from just one in 2000 to 18 in 2008. But employability is a huge issue and students with a regular MBA degree don’t have the specific skills required for the sector.’

Maximum insurance firms in India suffice by providing in-house training to the newly recruited, while some like Aviva and ICICI Prudential pick from the elite B-schools. The proposed insurance programme will be of one year’s duration and it will be called executive programme in management and insurance. Mr Askok Banerjee remarked that it will help plug the gap in the industry.  

The said insurance programme to be offered by the IIM Calcutta will cost Rs 2.1 lakh, will have 21 modules, to be taught over three semesters. The first academic session will initiate from August and will comprise of about 80 students. Anyone with an undergraduate degree and 50 per cent marks will be eligible for the course.