L&T's A M Naik steps down as IIM-Ahmedabad chairman

MUMBAI: In a sudden move, A M Naik chairman of engineering conglomerate, L&T has stepped down from his post as second-time chairman of the Indian Institute of Management . In a letter addressed to the HRD minsitry, A M Naik is understood to have officially cited time constraints behind his decision to quit the post.

The move has taken the academic circles by surprise given Mr Naik's huge interest and involvement in the growth of IIMA. Speculations within the academia point towards ego tussles between the institute and the HRD ministry which however remain unconfirmed.

Naik was the first chairman directly appointed by IIMA I 2012 as part of an MoA between the centre and the institute. He then took charge from Vijaypath Singhania of the Raymond Group. He was re-appointed as chairman after his three year term ended in Februrary 2015.

IIMA would now have to set up another search committee for a new chairman. Both A M Naik and Ashish Nanda director of IIMA were unavailable for comments.

During his first three-year term as the chairman of IIMA, 73-year old AM Naik tenaciously convinced Ashish Nanda to leave the Harvard Law School and take charge of IIMA as its first overseas director in the institute's 52 year old history.

Naik has been credited for his persistence in tackling the government bureaucracy to get the appointment ratified. It was this commitment to the institute that won him a second term as IIMA chairman. Naik has been supporting Ashish Nanda in his attempts at making IIMA more outward looking and a global management institute.

In an earlier interview to ET, Naik said he spent one-and-a-half years of my tenure at IIMA as chairman trying to rope in an internationally reputed director. "Now my single-point agenda for his second term is to make IIM-A a truly global management institute in terms of diversity, research and thought leadership."Naik does a video-conferencing meeting with the director every month and travel there once every three months, an official told ET.

IIM-A has made several changes recently. About 96% of students in the 2012-14 batch in IIM-A come from an engineering background. The institute has now revised its selection criteria to allow direct entry into its Written Analysis and Personal Interviews round for toppers from different academic background including arts, commerce, science/medicine and so on.

In another major change in admission norms, IIM-A plans to introduce "supernumerary seats" for foreign nationals from next year who wish to join its PGP course.

"Naik brought in better collaboration between the academia and corporate sectororate sector together," says an IIMA official on conditions of anonymity. Naik has also been rooting for better compensation packages to attract good quality and global faculty.