New Delhi: University of Oxford and Lavasa Corporation, a part of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), announced on 21 January, the setting up of a research centre in the UK that will focus on Indian businesses and deliver education programmes.
“Under the aegis of the Said Business School, we will be establishing a new research centre focusing on Indian business,” said John Hood, vice-chancellor, University of Oxford.
“Lavasa has donated money to set up the centre,” Hood said, but declined to disclose the amount.
At Lavasa, which is being developed as a hill station near Pune by HCC, Hood said the centre would run programmes and courses for Indian executives starting 2009.
HCC chairman and managing director Ajit Gulabchand, who is also the chairman of Lavasa, said: “A memorandum of agreement will be signed at the World Economic Forum in Davos.”
The Oxford University India Business Centre (OUBIC), to be located at Said Business School in Oxford, will address major business issues through collaborative research between academics in Oxford, India and elsewhere.
As part of the initiative, a new chair - ‘The Ajit Gulabchand Professor of Indian Business Studies’ - would be set up at the University of Oxford.
“The primary objective of this research centre is to learn from India’s business success,” Hood said, adding the education programmes would be designed based on the need of the Indian businesses while pricing would depend on the market.