IIM Bangalore announces Tata Trusts-backed UG school; first residential BSc batch to begin in August

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jun 17, 2026 04:20 PM IST

The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) on Tuesday announced a philanthropic commitment from the Tata Trusts to support its School of Undergraduate Studies (SoUS), an initiative that will anchor the institute’s Bachelor’s programmes in Bengaluru.

According to IIMB, the grant will support the school’s academic vision, campus development, and long-term institutional roadmap. The announcement comes nearly a year after the institute launched admissions for its first full-time residential undergraduate degree programmes, with the inaugural batch scheduled to begin classes in August.

The School of Undergraduate Studies, located around 27 kilometres from IIM-B’s main campus, has been conceived as part of the institute’s broader effort to contribute to undergraduate education. Initially, the school will offer two four-year residential programmes — a BSc (Honours) in Economics with a minor in Data Science and a BSc (Honours) in Data Science with a minor in Economics.

The first cohort will comprise 80 students, with 40 students enrolled in each programme. IIMB said the curriculum combines economics, data science and business studies in an interdisciplinary format. Over time, the School of Undergraduate Studies is expected to expand into areas including Economics, Mathematics and Data Science, Psychology and Behavioural Science, and Sustainability.

Once fully operational, the school is projected to have around 2,400 students and 100 full-time faculty members.

Welcoming the contribution, Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairperson of the Board of Governors, IIM Bangalore, said, “Transformative endowments, exemplified by the support from the Tata Trusts, are fundamental to setting institutes of national importance such as IIM Bangalore firmly on a path of global leadership.”

The institute also said the Tata Trusts endowment will support the development of academic and residential infrastructure and help establish research clusters in areas such as artificial intelligence, data science, algorithmic design, Indian Knowledge Systems and applied business learning. It will also support the recruitment of faculty across disciplines.

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Noel Tata, Chairman of Tata Trusts, said the organisation’s support reflects its long-standing focus on building institutions at an early stage. “The Tata Trusts have for over a century supported some of India’s most defining institutions like the Tata Memorial Hospital and the Indian Institute of Science. This support reflects the same instinct, to build institutions of enduring value through support at an early, formative stage,” he said.

The institute said the undergraduate school forms part of its longer-term academic expansion plans, with the first batch of students set to begin their programmes in August this year.