Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT)

 

RANK: 13

 College: Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT)

Location: Delhi

Year Established: 1963

LINK: www.iift.edu

Exam: IIFT

Summary: The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) is an autonomous public business school established in 1963 by the Government of India (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) to help professionalize the country’s foreign trade management and increase exports by developing human resources; generating, analysing and disseminating data; and conducting research. Its flagship program is the Master of Business Administration in International Business (MBA-IB).

It is the only institute among the top-10 business schools of India that offers International Business program. The institute visualises its future role as: A catalyst for new ideas, concepts and skills for the internationalisation of the Indian economy, the primary provider of training and research-based consultancy in the areas of International Business both for the corporate sector and Government and the student’s community. IIFT started out as a center to provide foreign trade advice to governments and has since played an instrumental role in conducting research in trade policy formation.

IIFT was conferred the status of Deemed University in 2002 and since then has been conducting an autonomous entrance examination across various centres in India. IIFT 2015 was held on November 22, 2015 and an estimated 47,000 candidates took the entrance exam for Full-Time MBA (IB) course with 270 seats. 1508 candidates were shortlisted for final admission round of Essay Writing, Group discussion and Interview, making it one of the toughest B-school admission processes in India.

Courses at IIFT

IIFT’s portfolio of long-term programmes is as follows:

  • D. Course (full-time and part-time)- at Delhi and Kolkata Campus.
  • Two-Year Residential MBA (International Business) – New Delhi, Kolkata, and Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania). This is the flagship course, offering specialisation in Marketing, Finance, Operations and Trade.
  • Three-Year Part Time MBA (International Business), New Delhi & Kolkata
  • Executive Master’s in International Business, New Delhi, Dubai and Dar-es-Salaam
  • Certificate Course in Export Management, New Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati (Assam)
  • Post Graduate Diploma in International Business Strategy through NIIT Imperia

IIFT has, over the years, undertaken research studies with organisations like World Trade Organisation, World Bank, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development(UNCTAD) and the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. IIFT has also trained more than 40,000 business professionals across 30 countries via its management development programmes.

Admission to IIFT

Selection in IIFT is a four-pronged process:

  1. The entrance test is a paper-based test which takes place in November
  2. A short-list based on the test scores is used to invite students for the Group Discussion round. Topics of national and international importance across social, political, economic and corporate domains are common as individuals are tested on their group discussion skills.
  3. A Writing Ability Test is conducted to test the candidate’s writing skills, along with knowledge of the subject and structure of representation.
  4. The Personal Interview has a distinct focus on goals, achievements, knowledge and awareness.

A cumulative weighted score depending on the rules of that particular year of examination is taken to identify the final short-list of candidates for offer letters.