Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's S P Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR) became the only privately run Indian B-School in the top 50 ranks in the Financial Times (FT) 2020 business school rankings. This places SPJIMR in a coveted list of leading global players in management education.

SPJIMR featured at rank 36, tied with the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, in the 'Financial Times Masters in Management (MIM) 2020', which is a ranking of the top management masters programmes worldwide.

The FT MIM features full-time masters programmes offered by schools that are accredited by AACSB or EQUIS. The SPJIMR ranking came for its Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM), the two-year, full time, residential MBA-equivalent that is the Institute's oldest programme.

The FT MIM list for 2020 released on Monday (Sep. 28) is the 16^th edition of the ranking by the Financial Times, which describes itself as "one of the world's leading news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy". The London, UK-based FT is a part of Nikkei Inc. of Japan, which provides a broad range of information, news and services for the global business community.

FT said its rankings are calculated using two separate surveys, one completed by the participating business schools and the second by alumni who finished their Masters programmes in 2017.

Only five Indian B-Schools feature in this year's FT MIM ranking. SPJIMR is the only private Indian school to feature in the list of the top programmes in the world. The other four Indian Institutes are IIM Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Bangalore and Udaipur.

Said Dr. Ranjan Banerjee, Dean, SPJIMR: "We have followed our own path. Curriculum relevance, a high degree of industry integration, and a strong focus on value education and experiential learning have set us apart. The FT ranking places a lot of emphasis on alumni performance in industry, and is thus a validation of our approach. We will continue to learn, innovate and get better."

Dr. Renuka Kamath, Associate Dean - Academic Services and External Relations, added, "It was only a matter of time before this happened. It has helped to continue building on what we believe in: our philosophies of influencing practice and value-based leadership."

The FT MIM introduces the ranking to students in these words: "Whether you are looking for a full-time MBA or a two-week course to improve your management skills, the Financial Times rankings list the best management programmes available."

The FT ranking should help further build the international visibility and attractiveness of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's S P Jain Institute of Management and Research.  This will add new elements of diversity at the Institute and in the student-base of many programmes that SPJIMR offers at its two locations - one at Mumbai (Andheri West) and a centre at Delhi (Kasturba Gandhi Marg).