IIM Bangalore's first overseas campus to come up in Indonesia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (July 7) announced that the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) will establish its first-ever international campus in Malang, East Java, Indonesia, marking a significant milestone in India's efforts to globalise higher education under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The announcement was made during Modi's state visit to Jakarta following bilateral talks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. Addressing a joint press statement, PM Modi said the new campus would strengthen educational ties between the two countries while serving students across the ASEAN region.

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"We are going to establish a campus of India's prestigious management institute, IIM Bangalore, in Indonesia, which will greatly benefit the youth across the entire ASEAN region," Modi said.

Proposed campus

The initiative makes IIM Bangalore the second Indian Institute of Management to establish an overseas campus, after IIM Ahmedabad, which recently expanded to Dubai.

The proposed campus will be located within the Singhasari Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Malang, East Java, and is envisioned as a regional management education hub for Indonesia and the wider ASEAN region. The project follows a partnership agreement signed between IIM Bangalore and SEZ Singhasari to promote academic collaboration, executive education and capacity building.

The agreement was signed in Jakarta in the presence of senior officials from both countries, including India's Ambassador to Indonesia Sandeep Chakravorty, IIM Bangalore Director-in-Charge Prof. U. Dinesh Kumar, SEZ Singhasari CEO KRAT David Santoso and representatives of Indonesia's Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs.

Academic programs offered

The international campus will be launched in two phases. The first phase will offer short-duration Executive Education Programmes (EEPs) for working professionals and business leaders, while the second phase will introduce degree-granting management programmes.

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According to IIM Bangalore, the executive programmes will cover core management disciplines alongside emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, digital transformation, global supply chains, climate and sustainability, and healthcare management. The initiative also aims to strengthen faculty exchanges, joint research, consulting projects, policy partnerships and industry engagement across Indonesia and ASEAN.

Prof. U. Dinesh Kumar said “We believe that this program will lead to significantly improved employment opportunities for Indonesian citizens and expatriates alike and push the envelope in making the Global South region the preferred destination for both quality education and business leadership.”

Participants at the Indonesia campus will also gain access to IIMBx, IIM Bangalore's digital learning platform and the national coordinator for management education on the Government of India's SWAYAM platform, providing learners with a wide range of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

India-Indonesia partnership

The announcement came as India and Indonesia signed nearly a dozen agreements spanning defence, trade, healthcare, digital connectivity and institutional cooperation. Modi said both countries had also agreed to deepen collaboration in emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, telecommunications, digital public infrastructure and startup ecosystems.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister was conferred Indonesia's highest civilian honour, the Bintang Adipurna of the Republic of Indonesia, in recognition of his contribution to strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries.