IIMB welcomes first-ever batch to the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore – Dorabji Tata School of Undergraduate Studies

Bangalore, September 1, 2026: IIM Bangalore welcomed the first-ever batch of its BSc (Hons) Programmes in Data Sciences and Economics to the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore – Dorabji Tata School of Undergraduate Studies, with an inauguration ceremony on 31st August, marking the institute's entry into undergraduate education as one of the world's leading management schools. The ceremony brought together the institute's leadership, faculty, and the inaugural cohort of 80 students for what speakers repeatedly called a ‘historic moment’ for Indian education.
The event opened with a welcome address by Prof. Mukta Kulkarni, Officiating Dean, UG Programmes and Dean, Programmes, IIM Bangalore, who welcomed the gathered students, faculty, former directors, members of the Tata Trusts, and dignitaries to the occasion, followed by an invocation and the ceremonial lighting of the lamp by the dignitaries on stage.
Addressing the gathering, Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIM Bangalore, and Chairman and Founder, Narayana Health, called the inauguration a momentous occasion for India's education system and one he believes will guide the transformation of Indian education. He thanked Mr. Noel Tata, Chairman, Tata Trusts, for his generous contribution toward building the institution. He placed the new school within a lineage of Tata-founded institutions, among them the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore and the Tata Memorial Centre for cancer care, that have shaped the country’s intellectual and scientific capacity for over a century, noting that this legacy now extends to preparing India for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He shared that 25 percent of the founding batch of 80 students are studying on full or partial scholarships.
Explaining the vision behind the school, Dr. Shetty said the goal was to train bilingual minds, not yet set in their views of the world, capable of moving as comfortably between business and public policy as between economics and science. He pointed to IIM Bangalore's standing among the world's top business schools and the strength of its faculty as reasons for choosing the institute to lead the initiative, and drew a parallel between Bengaluru's startup ecosystem and Silicon Valley's roots in Stanford and Berkeley to explain why the school is based in the city.
Dr. Shetty closed his address drawing inspiration from the words of Jamsetji Tata, founder of the Tata Group: "In a free country with its vast natural resources, an intellectual revolution is the only thing that can elevate the condition of the people." He congratulated the students for being selected from among roughly 12,000 applicants for the first cohort.
Siddharth Sharma, CEO, Tata Trusts, reflected on how dramatically the world has changed since he began his own career nearly four decades ago, when career choices for Indian students were far more limited. He offered a piece of advice, asking them to take it easy and learn to relax amid what he acknowledged can be an overwhelming range of choices for 18-year-olds today.
Drawing on his career across government, the corporate sector and the development space, Mr. Sharma urged the students to hold on to four cardinal principles: honesty, integrity, hard work, and continuous learning and re-learning, noting that there are no shortcuts to reaching the top of any profession. He told them that how they shape their own evolution as human beings matters more than how they shape their careers, adding that a good human being will make a good professional, but not the reverse.
Sharma spoke of the unique position of being part of a first batch, telling students they now could shape the culture of the institution from its very first day. Reflecting on Tata Trusts' broader approach to education, he noted that India's shortage of top-quality higher education institutions relative to its population has turned admissions into what he described as an elimination process rather than a selection process and said the partnership with IIM Bangalore was conceived as a long-term investment in the country's youth.
"Institutions are not about bricks and mortar. Institutions are not about amenities and facilities, but institutions are about faculty. Institutions are about teaching. Institutions are about learning. And institutions are about the culture of excellence."  
Sharma outlined the institution's long-term ambitions, sharing that the founding cohort of 80 is expected to grow to about 2,400 students, supported by 150 faculty, by 2034, though he was clear that scale was not the point. Reflecting on the philosophy behind the Tata Group’s institution-building over the past century, he said, “We’ve always thought the idea is to look at the future, do the right thing, do what is right for India.”   He closed by wishing the students a fulfilling four years, cautioning them to prepare for a world being reshaped by artificial intelligence and rapid technological change unlike anything his own generation encountered.