Kolkata, otherwise known as ‘The Pivot of the East’ is the capital of the state of West Bengal and the third largest metropolitan city in the country. It is the epicenter of finance and commerce for Eastern India, and it is the industrial hub for the production of construction materials, textiles, agriculture and agricultural byproducts, and electronics. Kolkata is also the home of the Calcutta Stock Exchange and runs the third-highest GDP in India.

Kolkata houses a total of over 370 colleges, each offering various streams of higher education. Out of the 370, there are over 30 prestigious business schools, both state-run and privately managed.

The most reputable institution for business management in the entire country is the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC). Located in Joka, on the fringe of Kolkata, this state-run university was the first Indian Institute of Management to be established in the country. The Business school in IIMC offers courses in:

- MBA (Master of Business Administration)
- MBAEx (Master of Business Administration for Executives)
- PGPEX-VLM (Post Graduate Program for Executives for Visionary Leadership in Manufacturing)
- PGDBA (Post Graduate Diploma in Business Analytics)
- CEMS MIM (Masters in International Management)
- MDP (Management Development Programmes).

The IIMC campus sprawls across an area of 135 acres and boasts of excellent academic and administrative infrastructure including a world-class library with access to over 1.6 lakh books and bound journals, classrooms of different sizes, conference rooms, computer labs, a 750 seater auditorium, a finance lab to support financial research and community spaces for group studies and recreation. The institute has front line technology developed to complement the requirements and content of the courses offered.

Students have an assorted pick of clubs to choose to be a part of, like the debating club, the economics club, toastmasters and a film club. The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta is the first institute in India and one of five business schools in Asia to receive a triple accreditation (EQUIS Accreditation Board, the AACSB Accreditation and the AMBA Accreditation). This puts IIMC on the top of the list of globally renowned business schools.
However, being one of the oldest and most prestigious of all the IIMs, CAT cutoff percentile for IIM Calcutta is over 95 percentile, thus making it an exclusive school to a very small percentage of the applicants.

After IIM Calcutta, the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM) comes in a close second place. The IISWBM is even older than IIM Calcutta, making it the oldest Business school in the entire south-east Asia. When it opened its doors in 1953, it was the first institute in India to offer a postgraduate MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree. Affiliated to the University of Calcutta, the IISWBM offers a total of 15 different courses including a mainstream MBA degree, more specialised MBA courses with a focus on Public Systems and Human Resource Management and MRM (Master in Retail Management).
Facilities in the IISWBM campus include a library with a vast collection of over 50,000 books covering a wide range of topics, a Business Intelligence Lab with cutting edge technology, a Language Lab, a Students Activity Centre, On-campus residential facilities for students, a fully equipped gymnasium, and a roof terrace garden.

The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade Kolkata is another renowned business school with an exceptional reputation. Established in 2006, this is a business institute of more recent times. The campus is spread across 7 acres and has two lakes amidst it. The placement rate in IIFT has consistently been maintained at 100%, thus making it one of the most sought after institutes for a business degree.

The Calcutta Business School is an institute primarily dedicated to business management. It boasts of a 15-acre campus, just outside the city of Kolkata. It has an elaborate research and training centre with a residential wing, cafeteria, and exclusive library and a fitness centre. The courses also include an international study tour, rural immersion, internship periods, and industry visits.
The student centre offers enrolment in a variety of clubs with their focus aimed at marketing, culture, and finance.

On the private sector front, the Praxis Business School is at the top of the list, with over a 92% placement rate. Praxis has also launched an innovative virtual platform called ‘Kollaborative Klassroom,' with the intent to encourage learning outside the classroom. Praxis offers post-graduate diploma courses in Management and Data Science, as well as short term programs in Cyber Security.

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