Team Siliconindia

• India’s NEP 2020 fuels a 'Vishwa Guru' vision, positioning the country as a global knowledge leader in business education through policy reform, innovation, and cultural relevance.
• Programs like BML Munjal University’s socially-driven MBA reflect a shift toward community impact and interdisciplinary learning, earning international accolades like AACSB’s 2025 Innovations That Inspire.
• With rising global accreditations and foreign universities entering India, the $7.3B MBA market is set to hit $12.9B by 2030, showcasing India’s growing influence in the global education landscape.

Since the launch of India's National Education Policy (NEP) in 2020, previous Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has referred to India's new global education vision as a 'vishwa guru', or world teacher. The term reflects the long tradition of India's cultural and historical role as a sharer of knowledge for the benefit of the world. Coupled with policy change, economic expansion, and a big, young population, such a vision is positioning India as a key player in the global business education sphere.

Indian management education, initially patterned after U.S. business schools, is now adapting to suit domestic requirements while retaining international significance. Educational institutions are increasingly incorporating societal value into curricula. BML Munjal University's MBA program provides one such example, where students work with rural women entrepreneurs on year-long social entrepreneurship assignments. This program, honored by AACSB International's 2025 Innovations That Inspire, is one illustration of how Indian business education is integrating academic rigor with community development.

The outcome is a dynamic MBA market, worth \$7.3 billion in 2023 and increasing to \$12.9 billion by 2030, as per Allied Market Research. Indian institutions are gaining global recognition too, with a rise in global accreditations. AACSB International now has 24 accredited Indian business schools 11 of which did this within the last five years and another 41 in progress. Accreditation places Indian institutions on par with worldwide norms without forcing them to compromise their distinctive cultural and academic identities.

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The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) documents an encouraging trend: increasing numbers of Indian students are choosing to pursue studies in business locally, illustrating enhanced quality and international competitiveness within local institutions.

This trend is encouraging Western universities to turn towards India. With NEP 2020 opening the door for foreign institutions to set up campuses in India, some of them have already started expanding to Indian cities among them, the University of Southampton and two Australian universities. This not only provides fresh opportunities for collaborative programs and credit transfers but also indicates India's increasing clout in the global education industry.

As the ecosystem of business schools grows more diversified, interdisciplinary and experiential learning is getting to the forefront. Exposure to various economic systems, as stressed by the likes of Himanshu Rai of IIM Indore, makes students more creative and ethical leaders. If India's business schools are to remain a 'vishwa guru', they will have to keep evolving their curriculum so that students possess globally applicable, human skills.