Campus Talk: With alumni support, this govt college in Mumbai has launched Bachelors in Luxury Brand and Retail Management course

This is among the first few academic initiatives taken by the college after coming out of the Mumbai University’s ambit. Principal of the college, Dr Shrinivas Dhure, explained, “The idea is to offer industry related courses in order to increase employability of our students.”

Dhure added, “This was conveniently possible because we are now part of a separate university with fewer colleges to govern, which is making it more effective. Thanks to the academic freedom, we are able to offer such a unique course. The course is already seeing a high demand.”

Dhure said the course began with 30 seats and during the admission process, 15 more seats were added considering the huge demand. An official of the college confirmed admissions from applicants across the country.

The LBRM course is a result of an initiative led by 2002 alumnus of the college Dhaval Gandhi. As someone from the field of academics, Gandhi wanted to give back to his Alma Mater in a unique way and decided to offer his expertise from this field to his college and jointly founded The School of Luxury Retail Management at the Sydenham College.

This includes a modern classroom and other sections created with support from alumni donations. Gandhi said the course has many industry stalwarts from luxury brands as teachers for master classes and to ensure good industry exposure to students.

Gandhi is also associated with the school as the chief mentor to oversee its functioning. He said, “It is one thing to provide financial support to one’s Alma Mater but considering my background in academics, I wanted to take it ahead and provide a unique opportunity to the students in Mumbai. The luxury market in India is growing but there is no trained manpower to work in this increasing industry sector. Currently, students have to depend on such niche courses offered abroad.”