'There's no question about the availability of talent in India, says John Thompson, CEO, Symantec, which announced a new unit in Chennai this year. This, at a time when Symantec has embarked on a structured cost-cutting exercise that would help save US$ 200 million a year! Symantec is not the only firm with such faith in the India Talent Story. Cisco is investing US$ 1.1 billion in India to build Cisco Bangalore into Cisco East, the second headquarters of the company after Silicon Valley.

The much-sought-after Indian workforce, which has propelled India to the top of several global competitive indices, is not only attracting prospective employers to the country. The education system behind this workforce is now driving a prolific education market.

Foreign Institutes in India

Promoting their executive education, the deans of elite, overseas business schools have been arriving one after another in India. For the schools, India represents a big revenue boost, as well as a chance to understand the concerns of a developing economy.

• Fuqua School of Business at Duke University has tied up with IIM Ahmedabad to offer a global leaders programme.
• The Indian arm of Citigroup is working with The Tuck School to train its executives.
• IIM Bangalore offers an advanced master's programme, in collaboration with the City University of Hong Kong, SDA Bocconi-School of Management in Italy and Anderson School of Business Los Angeles, USA.
• Harvard Business School will start an executive education programme in India next year, targeting companies with global ambitions to address what it believes is the typical challenge in the booming economy--managing hypergrowth.
• France-based ESCP-EAP European School of Management plans to hold executive education programmes for corporates in India.

Indian Institutes go Abroad

A number of Indian B-schools have established offshore campuses and the Middle Eastern nations and Singapore are clearly emerging as favourite destinations.

• Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) in Jamshedpur offers an executive education programme in Dubai and now has a campus in Singapore.
• Institute of Management Technology (IMT) and SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) also have campuses in Dubai.
• The Management Development Institute (MDI) in Gurgaon is in advanced talks with the government of Qatar to open a branch in the capital city of Doha.
• Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI), which has already opened shop in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, is in the process of establishing more centres in Myanmar and Kazakhstan.