As Indias aerospace business spreads its wings, the first batch of the countrys first aerospace MBA degree programme, aimed at preparing leaders in the aerospace industry, is set to complete the course this year.

With 45 students in the final segment of the course, the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) and Toulouse Business School (TBS) are now scouting for talent for the next batch starting later this year.

The two-year degree course, which is being showcased amid a slew of defence manufacturing companies at Aero India, generated interest among many visitors.

The fist batch has been successful and is ready to be absorbed by the industry where there is a huge gap of leadership. While the number of companies are increasing through joint ventures and startups, there was no specialised course to create leadership to head these companies, Christophe Benaroya, director of Aerospace MBA at TBS, told The Hindu. This specialised area requires training in handling business well, he added.

The course, which was backed by the aviation industry when it was launched, has seen nearly six pilots flying civilian and military aircraft enrol along with many others coming from diverse backgrounds, ranging from a software engineer to a business executive.

Currently, the Indian airline industry is flying its planes to Maldives, Sri Lanka and Singapore for maintenance and repairs. This is set to change in the next 10 years when the number of companies being set up is also expected to increase. This requires skilled top-level management to run the business, said Rajendra Prasad Kovi, who is part of the first batch. Most students of the course have been working in their respective fields for long years, and some of them are looking at a change of industry too, said Mr. Kovi, who has experience in providing IT services for travel industry.

Read more:

First batch of aerospace MBAs set to graduate - The Hindu