~ From June 1-6, 2026, IIMA will be facilitating an immersive tour for a cohort of 41 participants from Odisha to expand their awareness about the historical, cultural, industrial, and developmental aspects of Gujarat.
~ Earlier last week, IIMA also flagged off a cohort of 39 participants from Gujarat who journeyed to Odisha from May 25-30, 2026, to strengthen their people-to-people connect and cultural awareness.
June 01, 2026: The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) welcomed a cohort of 41 participants, including 29 male and 12 female participants, from various districts and institutions of Odisha on its campus today, as part of the Yuva Sangam Phase VI programme under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat initiative of the Government of India. IIMA is serving as a nodal institution for the programme in Gujarat and will facilitate an immersive tour of Gujarat for the Odisha cohort till June 6, 2026.
Professor Bharat Bhasker, Director of IIMA; Col. (Dr.) Jagdish C. Joshi (Retd.), Chief Administrative Officer, and Nodal Officer for Yuva Sangam Phase VI at IIMA; and Brig. Dinesh Sharma (Retd.), Advisor – IFM, interacted with the participants during the welcome session.
Professor Bharat Bhasker, Director IIMA, acknowledged the importance of programmes like Yuva Sangam in fostering cultural awareness and harmony, and experiential learning, saying, “In a country like India, which is not only one of the world’s oldest civilisations, but also a birthplace of numerous dialects, food habits, and cultural practices, which change every few hundred kilometres, it would take a lifetime to explore the entire country. And yet, there is a common thread that bind us all together. Yuva Sangam programme acts as a bridge that fosters experiential and deeper understanding about our rich socio-cultural and developmental aspects among the youth of the country. With clean slates and fresh perspectives, you are not only visiting a different Indian state as tourists, but as observers and learners who can identify unique strengths and challenges and utilise that knowledge to catalyse change and development of India in future.”
The six-day programme will provide Odisha participants first-hand exposure to Gujarat’s history, culture, traditions, development initiatives, development and governance models, industrial and innovation ecosystem, and local way of life. They will visit and explore various landmarks of Gujarat, including IIM Ahmedabad, Adalaj Stepwell, Gandhi Ashram, Blind People’s Association, Old City area of Ahmedabad, local markets, Science City, GIFT City, Amul factory, and so on. The cohort is also scheduled to visit and interact with Shri Acharya Devvrat, Hon’ble Governor of Gujarat. They will also relish traditional Gujarati cuisine.
Earlier last week, IIMA had also flagged off a cohort of 39 participants, with 27 males and 12 female participants from Gujarat for a six-day immersion programme in Odisha from May 25- 30, 2026, where they were hosted by the National Institute of Technology Rourkela. Major General Bimal Monga, SM, VSM, Additional Director General, NCC Directorate of Gujarat, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, graced the fag-off ceremony as the Chief Guest, and along with IIMA Director Professor Bharat Bhasker, encouraged participants to make the most of this unique opportunity.
Designed to foster national integration and people-to-people connect, Yuva Sangam programme gives college students and off-campus youngsters an opportunity to expand their horizons and develop a more nuanced understanding of India and their countrypeople through immersive inter-state exposure tours. Structured around the themes of Paryatan (Tourism), Parampara (Traditions), Pragati (Development), Paraspar Sampark (People-to-people connect), and Prodyogiki (Technology), Yuva Sangam strives to give holistic exposure of a state’s social, cultural, developmental, and institutional strengths to participants.
About IIM Ahmedabad:
The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) is a premier global management Institute that is at the forefront of promoting excellence in the field of management education. In more than six decades of its existence, the Institute has been acknowledged for its exemplary contributions to scholarship, practice, and policy through its distinctive teaching, high-quality research, nurturing future leaders, supporting industry, government, social enterprise, and creating a progressive impact on society.
IIMA was founded as an innovative initiative by the Government, industry, and international academia in 1961. Since then, it has been consolidating its global footprint, and today it has a network with over 80 top international institutions and a campus in Dubai. Its eminent faculty members and more than 47,000 alumni, who are at the helm of influential positions in all walks of life, also contribute to its global recognition. Over the years, IIMA’s academically superior, market-driven, and socially impactful programmes have earned a high reputation and acclaim globally. It became the first Indian institution to receive international accreditation from EQUIS. The Institute is also placed first in the Government of India’s National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), India Rankings 2025. The Institute has been ranked 35th globally in the Financial Times (FT) Executive Education Rankings (Open) 2025. The renowned flagship two-year Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) is ranked 34th in the FT Masters in Management Ranking 2025, and the Full-Time One-Year Post Graduate Programme in Management (MBA-PGPX) has been ranked 27th in the FT Global MBA rankings 2026.
IIMA offers consultancy services and more than 200 curated executive education programmes in customised, blended, and open enrolment formats for a diverse audience comprising business leaders, policymakers, industry professionals, academicians, government officials, armed forces personnel, agri-business, and other niche sector specialists and entrepreneurs.
To know more about the Institute, please visit: https://www.iima.ac.in/
For media queries, please contact:
Ms. Shivangi Bhatt | manager-comm@iima.ac.in
Ms. Krishna Barot| pr@iima.ac.in
