The Hindu Business Line : Stansfield Group to set up 20 biz schools in India

Mr Kannappan Chettiar, Chairman, Stansfield School of Business, said the first schools will come up in Chennai, Tiruchi and Coimbatore followed by ones in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Bhopal. An investment of about Rs 7 crore to Rs 10 crore has been earmarked for each centre.

Each campus would have 1,000-1,200 students and a full-time faculty. The investment would be undertaken in a phased manner and will be funded by a syndicated loan, Mr Chettiar said. The first of the centres, located in Chennai, covers an area of 10,000 sq ft and is expected to be ready by February 2005. The land for the complex is being identified, he said.

The centres would offer undergraduate (three years) and masters (1-2 years) courses and an MBA (about 18 months) programme. Some of the faculty would be from the UK and Singapore, since the Stansfield College has a tie-up with the University of London for its degrees and diplomas. Mr Chettiar said that the college was not seeking any recognition from local authorities.

The course fees would be in the region of about Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4 lakh.

The Stansfield School of Business is also establishing an English learning programme in a joint venture with the Government in China to train 2 lakh people. The project would be underway in a month's time. The Chinese Government would provide infrastructure while the school would undertake the training. The investment in the school is around S$1 million over the next three years.

Apart from the Stansfield School of Business, the Stansfield Group runs the Singapore Institute of Commerce, the St James English School, the Winfield Hall of Residence and the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.