INDIAN INSTITUTE OF FOREIGN TRADE (IIFT)

Contact Information:
Address: IIFT Bhawan, B-21, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi – 110 016
Phone: Director Section: + 91 – 11 – 2685 3055 ; + 91 – 11 – 2696 3880
Registrar Section: + 91 – 11 – 2696 6165
Board Numbers: + 91 – 11 – 2696 5124 ; + 91 – 11 – 2696 5051
Fax: + 91 – 11 – 2685 3956
Website: www.iift.edu

The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade [IIFT] operates as an autonomous organization. It was established by the Government of India in 1963 in order to assist and establish the foreign trade management of India as a profession and to increase the trade exports by developing human resources, generating data, analyzing it and disseminating data and then conducting research for further improvement of trade.

The IIFT Campus in Delhi is situated in the Qutab Recreational Area and lies in close proximity to the Jawaharlal Nehru University [JNU] and the Indian Institute of Technology [IIT] in New Delhi. The campus spans over a massive area of 6 acres.

The IIFT offers long-term programmes such as a 2-year residential MBA programme in International Business within its New Delhi, Kolkata and Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania) divisions. It is a flagship course that offers specialization in Marketing, Finance & Systems and Trade. The 3-year MBA programme in International Business is conducted during weekends in the New Delhi & Kolkata divisions only. Executive Masters in International Business are offered in the New Delhi, Dubai and Dar-es-Salaam divisions while a Certificate Course in Export Management is offered in the New Delhi, Kolkata and Guwahati (Assam) divisions. The Post Graduate Certificate Course in International Business is offered through the NIIT Imperia Centre.

The IIFT as an Institute conducts an autonomous entrance examination across various centres in India. Recently, in 2010, over 85,000 candidates took the entrance exam for a Full Time MBA programme in International Business for 220 seats only, hence making this institute one of the toughest B-schools to get admission into in this country. Owing to such reasons, this institute ranks among the top 10 Business Schools in India.

IIFT has also undertaken research studies with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and organizations like UNCTAD, World Bank & WTO. It has also trained over 40,000 business professionals across 30 countries through its management development programs.

Centres at IIFT include the ‘Centre for International Trade in Technology’ whose primary objective is to assist India to attain potential in technology trade and also to address some of the institutional complexities. The centre was set up with financial and technical support from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research of the Government of India.

IIFT set up the ‘Centre for WTO Studies’ in November 2002 with the main objective to support the Department of Commerce in analytics and research on a continuous basis on issues that have been identified and pertains to the World Trade Organization. Besides the research activities, it also produces Publications on WTO related subjects, conducts Outreach & Capacity Building programmes via seminars, workshops and subject specific meetings. It also homes a repository of important WTO documents in its Trade Resource Centre.

The ‘Centre for SME Studies’ was established by IIFT on May 2005 owing to the growth of importance of Small as well as Medium Enterprises in the economy of India and External Trade. This centre acts as a catalyst to internationalise SME activities. It also provides continuous support to the SME sector through Training Programmes, procurement of Business Intelligence services through a databank and also motivates an interface with other concerned and associated institutions.

The IIFT Campus facilities include lecture halls equipped with audio-visual aids, conference halls, an auditorium equipped with a seating capacity of 500 seats, MDP Centre, 3 Computer Centres, Indoor games facility and residential facilities for all its students. The IIFT Library homes a wide collection of 84,000 volumes and subscriptions to 800 journals, publications of FAO, IMF, OECD, UNCTAD, UNCTC, World Bank and other international agencies.

The IIFT students can access the databases of CMIE, India Trades, NIC, World Bank Indicators and other audio-visual aids on management and an exclusive WTO Resource Centre that focuses on WTO issues only. The centre also offers LAN and Computer facilities such as a 24-hour Internet access, LCD / Plasma Screen Projection Systems, access to national and international databases, in-house publishing facilities, and many more.

IIFT also conducts Exchange Programmes for students with a few international institutions. This exchange programme is collaborated mainly for student and faculty including joint collaborations on research and various capacity building exercises. The International Management Forum or IMF in short is a student body council that official represents the student body at IIFT. The IMF acts as a coordinator and provides administrative support to various student events and activities. It also makes policy decisions regarding the affairs of the student in consultation with the Director, Chairperson or Program Director of the Institute.

The IIFT also conducts a Placement Committee that comprise of ten members that have been elected as representatives. The Placement committee comprise of 6 members from the Delhi campus and 4 from the Kolkata campus. Its primary purpose is to ensure a good and final summer placement for the students under the full time MBA (IB) programme.

The IIFT also homes a number of clubs on the campus such as;

  • ‘Blash’ – Focuses on furnishing members with ideas of the mechanisms of ‘Trading’.
  • ‘Brandwagon’ – Focuses on Students who are interested in marketing, either as a subject or as a preferred career.
  • ‘Cash-O-Nova’ – This club focuses on discussion and activities in the field of ‘Finance’.
  • ‘E-Cell’ – Entrepreneurship Cell
  • ‘EOM’ – Energy, Operations & Manufacturing Cell
  • ‘Koshish’ – CSR Club
  • ‘Quintessential’ – Quizzing Club
  • ‘Socrates’ – Consulting Club
  • ‘Systemix’ – Focuses to provide a platform for ‘Information Technology’.

The IIFT MBA (IB) students also produce and issue three monthly magazines that include ‘infineeti’ [Magazine for Finance]; ‘markmantra’ [Magazine for Marketing & ‘techtonix’ [Magazine for IT]. The Institute also conducts the annual management festival ‘Quo Vadis’ and Trade Winds for corporate interactions.