How MDI Gurgaon is training students on the skills the industry wants

In the heart of Gurugram’s corporate hub, where tens of glass towers have come up in recent years, sits the 36-acre campus of MDI Gurgaon. Set up in 1972 by state-run financial services firms, MDI began as a training ground for executives and managers of development banks. Decades on, it has become a prominent fixture in India’s management education landscape and an obvious choice for candidates looking beyond IIMs. But that wasn’t the case always.

About two decades ago, MDI Gurgaon used to be talked about in the same bracket as IIM-A, IIM Bangalore and IIM Calcutta, Arvind Sahay, the director of MDI Gurgaon, tells BT. “Since then, MDI Gurgaon has probably slipped a little. IIM-A, IIM-B, IIM-C and ISB are considered in one tier,” he says, adding that MDI’s placements and faculty publications are comparable to that of IIM Indore and IIM Kozhikode.

Sahay, who has been at the helm for three years, has been able to bring stability at the B-school. Before him, the institute had seen six directors in six years. Now, it is trying to get back into the top tier. In the last three years, MDI has improved its NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) ranking from 13 to 9.

“We would like to get there (top tier). But it is a journey. If you do the right things, and do them consistently over time, it will come. The good news is that we seem to be on the right trajectory,” says Sahay. “We should be able to crack the Top 5 in NIRF ranking in the next two-three years.”

MDI Gurgaon has applied to become a university. “Once we become a university, we will be able to offer MBA degrees instead of PGDM,” says Sahay.

The average placement package for the batch that graduated in 2026 was Rs 29 lakh, says Sahay. Placements in consulting, manufacturing, and GCCs are expanding while the IT services sector is not. About 770 students graduated this year. Sahay says the institute prepares students for life and not just jobs. “Sometimes, people tend to focus on how much package they are going to get. That is short-sighted,” he says. “Our responsibility is to prepare them for life. That means critical thinking, problem-solving skills, ability to collaborate and be emotionally resilient”.

MDI as an institution is a lot more entrepreneurial, says Sahay. “IIM-A is in a unique place where, by vir-tue of the brand, a lot of people come, whereas for MDI Gurgaon, you have to go out and engage. That makes people entrepreneurial,” he says.

MDI Gurgaon offers PGDM courses in Human Resource, International Business, and Business Analytics. It launched a new PGDM course on Banking and Financial Services (BFS) this year. The institute is also planning to launch a Bachelor’s programme that combines technology and business.

While MBA, a quintessential American degree, has been becoming less popular in the US, Sahay believes it will continue to flourish in India above a certain quality even as domain specialisation and focus on skills increase. “MBA is going away slowly. People are becoming specialised. In India, we still have 8-10 years before that starts affecting top 10 or 20 institutions. We have to start taking steps. PGDM in BFS is one such thing, Business Analytics is another,” he says Sahay.

MDI Gurgaon trains students on the skills the industry is asking for, says Sahay. “The institute is moving quickly to include AI as part of the curriculum among different courses,” he says, adding that the key challenge is nudging students to use AI not just as a crutch but to exercise their minds.

Similarly, MDI has introduced a course on geopolitics and business.

Vidhi Kothari, a 24-year-old student who joined MDI Gurgaon after working with JP Morgan Chase for about two years in Bengaluru, says the institute’s industry connect is valuable. “MDI is in Gurgaon, the heart of the corporate jungle. The opportunities are endless. We have different corporates coming here almost every day,” says Kothari.

@karandhar11