The average salary of a Indian Institute of Management student after completing a two-year post graduate programme in management is comparable with the entry level salary for students of Indian School of Business's one-year post graduate programme in management.

While a student passing out of the IIM course could get around Rs 6 lakh (Rs 600,000) a year, an average student entering ISB (the institute takes only employed candidates) gets around 5.5 lakh (Rs 550,000). The average salary of a student passing out of ISB's course is over Rs 9 lakh (Rs 900,000) per annum.

"Where IIMs ends, ISB begins. IIMs cannot be compared to ISB. We are competing with the international B-schools across the world. The vision of our institute is to become an internationally top-ranked, research-driven, independent management institution that grooms future leaders for India and the world. We have students joining ISB after coming out of IIMs," Aarti Bansal, PGP student at ISB, said on the sidelines of Tata Confluence-2004 being hosted by IIMA.

• A B-school with a difference

ISB classrooms are equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual and video-conferencing facilities, and the entire campus is enabled for broadband connectivity to the Internet and the ISB intranet.

Asked about the four-fold higher tuition fee charged by ISB, Tarun Kohli, PGP student at ISB, said: "We get the best infrastructure in the country. Not a single student at ISB has been turned down because of his/her inability to pay tuition fees. Banks sanction loans within 48 hour of application and various other corporates sponsor students. Moreover, one can recover a substantial amount of the fee within the very first year of placement."

ISB offers a one-year post graduate programme, a post doctoral research fellowship programme, and short-term open and customised executive programmes amongst others.

"ISB's partnership with the world's leading business schools, like the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and London Business School makes it the most unique B-School in the Asia Pacific region," said Harsh Khandelwal, PGP student at ISB.

ISB's curriculum focuses on managing business in fast-evolving environments, with strong emphasis on entrepreneurship, the impact of technology on commerce, and managing the emerging markets of Asia amongst others.

"The faculty pool at the ISB is better than any other B-school in the country. As prize-winning academicians, authors, and entrepreneurs, our faculty represents a highly valued asset to the school," said Chaitanya Challa, another PGP student at ISB.

The ISB Centres of Excellence are being set up to promote research and thought leadership. While a focus on emerging markets will underpin all research, each Centre will focus on one area, namely technology, leadership and change management, strategic marketing, analytical finance, and entrepreneurship.