Institutes like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur and Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) Jamshedpur have on paper about 30 executive education courses per year. This figure has doubled in the last few years as the amounts charged for each training programme has gone down by 60 %. This rise is also fuelled by rapid technological advancement around the globe, making it imperative for professionals from all walks of life learn new technologies and update and upgrade their knowledge, much after completing formal education in the college. Moreover, there is a shortage of 20-40% in the leadership positions across sectors. Although many companies have found internal training to be a substitute, after a point it becomes expensive. Harvard Business School (HBS) just completed its first five-day executive education programme in Hyderabad. If the course were to be taught at the Harvard campus, it would have cost USD 10,000 (around INR 400,000) upwards. However, an Indian executive gets it for as relatively low as INR 180,000. At IIT-Kharagpur, XLRI Jamshedpur, and IIM Calcutta, around 200 executives take the executive education programmes every year, with course fee ranging between INR 5,000 and INR 35,000, with a few courses costing up to a couple of lakhs. For example, the Danish embassy of Dhaka had sent people for a four-month management course at IIT-KGP at a cost of approximately INR 60 lakh. The level of importance of executive education has reached outside profit-oriented companies too. The Ranchi-based Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS) too is in the process of drawing up a calendar of topics for training of non-government organisations (NGOs) keeping in mind the priorities of small and middle level NGOs. XISS executive education courses, usually range between INR 25,000 and INR 50,000, and address current topics and concerns ranging from general management to specific functional areas that include human resource, rural development, information management, marketing and finance.
