To combat the country’s burgeoning demand of trained professionals in the retail sector, Lavasa Corporation, in association with National School of Hospitality Management (NSHM) Knowledge Campus, Kolkata, has planned to develop the country’s first university focused on retail training.
Lavasa, a part of the Hindustan Construction Company,will be developing India’s first planned hill station in Pune and is planning to set up the university there.
The university is scheduled to commence operations from the academic year 2010 and will admit around 1,600 students every year in both graduate and post graduate courses. The duration of the courses will range from 12 to 24 months and will cost around Rs 4 lakh per year, including lodging and boarding facilities.
Speaking to media, Rajgopal Nogja, president, Lavasa Corporation, said, “The NSHM Knowledge Campus is expected to become a deemed university by 2010 under the UGC Act and we will affiliate it with various other universities of US and UK depending on the courses we offer. We are expecting international students to register as well.”
Elaborating the scope of employment in retail, Cecil Antony, the chief mentor of NSHM cited a media report saying: “India’s retail sector has emerged as the fifth largest investment destination in the world. It has witnessed a growth of 25-28 per cent in 2007, and the entire retail industry is estimated to grow up to around USD 365 billion in 2008 and around USD 440 billion by 2010, which will generate an employment outlook of 30 per cent in 2008.”
