By Amitabh Sinha,News18,Pathikrit Sen Gupta

Copyright news18

In a significant step towards the globalisation of India’s education as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) opened its Dubai Campus on September 11. Following the opening of an IIT branch in Abu Dhabi two years ago, PM Modi assured the UAE leadership about establishing an IIM campus in Dubai about one and a half years ago. This promise was fulfilled when the Crown Prince of Dubai, Hamdan bin Mohammed, inaugurated IIMA’s first international campus at Dubai International Academic City on September 11.
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan highlighted that this campus will showcase the best of India to the world. Dubai provides the perfect launchpad for the ethos of “Indian in Spirit, Global in Outlook” by hosting IIMA’s international campus.
Dharmendra Pradhan meets Dr Abdulrahman Abdulmannan Al Awar, Acting Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, UAE. Image/News18
Dubai is emerging as a top choice for exceptional students and a global hub for talent, innovation, and entrepreneurship. In its first year, IIMA Dubai Campus plans to establish two dedicated centres of excellence: one focused on case writing and development, and the other on start-up incubation. The first programme launched by IIMA Dubai is a full-time one-year MBA. Structured across five terms, it offers a rigorous academic experience and international exposure, reflecting the global standards of IIMA’s highly ranked MBA. The inaugural cohort of the one-year MBA programme in Dubai consists of 35 students, including 27 (77.14%) male and eight (22.86%) female students.
The establishment of the IIMA Dubai Campus is a result of the joint vision of the Indian and Dubai governments. With the launch of its first international campus at Dubai International Academic City, IIMA has expanded its global presence in management education. The new campus aims to deliver world-class learning opportunities to aspiring leaders across West Asia and neighbouring regions while fostering rich cross-cultural exchange and academic collaboration. The Dubai campus is equipped with cutting-edge academic resources and modern amenities to support students’ learning needs in a rapidly changing international environment.
Muhammad noted, “Dubai continues to draw world-class universities as part of our commitment to advancing the higher education sector in line with the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 and the Education 33 Strategy,” which aims to make Dubai one of the world’s top 10 student cities by 2033. By fostering a vibrant, multicultural learning environment, we are building an education ecosystem that fuels sustainable development and prepares the next generation to create a brighter tomorrow for Dubai and the world.”
The inaugural ceremony for the state-of-the-art Dubai Campus of IIMA was attended by Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Education, India, Sunjay Sudhir, the Ambassador of India to the UAE, and senior officials of IIM Ahmedabad, along with top ministers and officials of the UAE. Dharmendra Pradhan stated that this was a new milestone in India-UAE knowledge collaboration, with Dubai providing an ideal launchpad for the ethos of “Indian in Spirit, Global in Outlook” by hosting IIM Ahmedabad’s international campus.