Environmental Markets – The next big thing!

Business opportunities in the Environmental Markets – This was the theme of talk delivered at XLRI by Dr. Ram Babu, CEO - General Carbon. He has over 35 years of professional experience in the Environmental sector and has worked with institutions like National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, PricewaterhouseCoopers and CantorCO2e.

Dr. Ram’s work in the private sector includes environment impact assessments, environment & energy audits, quality & environment management systems and corporate governance benchmarking. From 1999, Dr. Ram focused on developing Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. Ram has participated in setting up many of the systems and processes of the Clean Development Mechanism, which includes development of methodologies, registration of over 50 projects and issuance of over 25 million CERs. Dr.Ram has led some of the early transactions in the compliance and voluntary markets and has been instrumental in developing a variety of carbon finance structures.

Dr. Ram Babu’s visit to XLRI, one of the country’s top notch Business Schools, is part of XLRI’s initiative to impart effectual corporate leadership amongst its students through frequent and periodic interactions with industry experts as part of the CEO Forum. The event was attended by students of General Management Programme(GMP), Business Management and Personnel Management students and faculty.

With consensus finally taking shape around Copenhagen, green technologies and environmental markets offer immense business opportunities in the near future. Dr. Ram Babu in his opening remarks highlighted that in a path breaking paper by the leading economists of the world, the value of services provided by the biosphere have been valued at 1.8 times of Global GNP. With increased focus on climate change and higher commitments of nations under Copenhagen, he opined that the share of Climate balance management Systems/Service in the global GDP would reach a level of 5% by 2020 surpassing the share of IT sector.

He briefly outlined the opportunities in the environmental markets viz., Incentive and market based mechanisms, Open trading under regulations, Self Organized Private deals and Certification and eco labeling of products and services. The market in carbon credits alone is estimated at around 50 billion dollars. Impressed by the keen interest shown by the students of XLRI in becoming partners in tapping this huge opportunity, he offered help in incubating ideas in this domain. Some of the ideas which found favor were investments in improving efficiency in various domains like energy utilities, cold storages, automobile and manufacturing sector etc to generate carbon credits.

The event was very interactive and Dr. Ram Babu answered many questions of students. The questions ranged from the mechanisms under CDM, project financing for carbon credit projects, types of technologies and industries which offer opportunities under carbon credits, etc.

1 year MBA comparisons

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Post Admission FAQs

1. for unmarried students, does XLRI provide a single room or is it on a twin sharing basis?
For unmarried students, the accommodation is a single room with attached bathroom, table, chair, bookshelf, AC, telephone, internet and lightings. The rooms are cleaned daily and there is dedicated housekeeping staff employed by XLRI. You can be assured of a comfortable stay while at XLRI’s GMP residence
2. Do we need to carry an n/w cord with us for the laptop, or is it wireless access to the network?
An n/w cord is always useful. The college is Wi-Fi enabled and each room has a LAN point. Each student is provided with a LAN cord within the first couple of days. To remain connected with the first minute you enter your room, you may carry an n/w with yourself.
3. Are there any shops within or near to the campus to purchase household items?
Jamshedpur is a small city and major shopping centers – Sakchi and Bistupur are about 10 minutes on bike. Within the campus, there a small shop but I don’t think it can handle your grocery requirements. There are a couple of shops just outside the campus gate which should be able to satisfy all your purchase needs including groceries and others.
4. What expenses do we have to budget additionally during our stay?
I understand that food is not included in the fees. Can’t think of any major expenses other than the phone and daily misc spend. You should factor about 50K-1L for the international immersion.
5. Do we need to buy any additional books during the course or are the notes provided by Profs enough?
No additional books need to be bought. They are supplied by the institute. You can choose to carry a few notebooks or you can buy them here.
6. Is there any constraint on the dress code during regular course work?
I hope casuals are okay. During the first term, a professor insists formalwear for managerial communication classes. Otherwise, its casual wear. Formal suites are required for formal gatherings and interviews
7. I understand that hectic would be a small word to describe your schedule, but how often do we get time to interact with student societies? Is there an opportunity to suggest an idea and start your own club?
Students are free to form their own clubs and information exchange committees with GMP peers. GMP has Finance committee, Canteen Committee, Admin committee, Online Group, Toastmasters club and Sports committee. XLRI also has well established clubs encompassing all programs of XLRI, concentration on diverse areas where GMP students are welcome to join. Some examples are: CRESENT (consulting club), Finax (finance association), Maxi(marketing association), Fire@x (Industrial relations & Labour law), SIGMA( social initiative for Managerial assistance) and many more. Information about other clubs is available on XLRI website. Usually, students participate in the events organized by various societies.
8. How often do we have alumni meets or sessions with head honchos? I am asking purely from an n/wing perspective. Such sessions keep happening around the year.
On an average, you can expect to see at least two guest lecturers/CEO forums per quarter. Alumni meets are more planned and happen 1-2 times during the year. There are guest lectures even during regular classes with people from the industry contributing to current topics.
9. Please shed some light on the waitlist conversion ratio . Please convey some inputs on the chances of waiting list candidates and till what number can a waiting list candidate expect for conversion to a final call along with the time frame for the same.
In my batch, I think the waitlist number upto 15 was admitted.
Timelines
you will have to be patient at least till the time admitted guys pay their first installment. Waitlist processing starts only after this date.
11. Do you suggest one should get their own vehicle during their stay in the campus ?
It is highly advisable to get your own vehicle to campus. Jamshedpur is a small city and it increases your mobility within the city and campus. A lot of my batch mates (including me) have their vehicles (car and bike) here on campus. There is ample covered parking area available with the residence blocks. It takes at most 10 mins to walk down to your class from the GMP residence, so even not having a vehicle is not a big deal.
12. Do we have to pay the mess charges in the beginning itself or do we have the option of making monthly payments towards it ?
Mess charges are usually paid along with the installment. We paid 40,000 for annual mess charge. There’s a new cafeteria near the GMP blocks which should also present some decent options!
13. Any suggestions on the preparatory ground work I should do before the course starts ?
The one year at XL is going be quite hectic. You can choose to rest before all the fun (on the run!) begins. If you are keen to start early, you can brush up your skills in Probability, Basic accounting, a little bit of micro and macroeconomics. I suggest you to start following the economic trends and getting used to the terms.

XLRI GMP Placements in Business Standard

XLRI GMP Placements is covered in Business Standard. Here is the link
Business Standard

XLRI Jamshedpur will conduct its final placement for the one year full time General Management Programme (GMP) at Mumbai from March 3 to 6, 2010 at St Xavier’s College. Companies like Apollo, SAP, TCS, Mahindra Satyam, Tech Mahindra, Biocon, Wipro Infotech, Daimler and few Tata group companies have already visited the campus. Over 25 students have already been made offers that range between Rs 11 lakh and Rs 28 lakh per annum. Soumya Ranjan Mahakul, secretary of the placement committee, says: “The average experience of the batch of 100 students is around 7 years with half of the batch having average international experience of 3 years. The diversity caters various sectors in the market.”

The institute is optimistic of placements this year and expects increased recruitment in all the sectors. Rajiv Misra, chairman placements at XLRI said, “The response from companies is definitely looking better. With economy slowly regaining its steam, companies are looking forward to these MBAs with substantial industry experience to become their growth drivers. This is evident from the upward trend in the number of companies registering for the placements and also salaries offered. For example, the leading Super Specialty hospital chain in the country has made 5 offers to the doctors in the batch.