Institutions are built by people who think beyond their own lifetime. On Thursday, 15 October 2026, the New Delhi Institute of Management (NDIM) will mark exactly that idea as it celebrates its 34th Annual Founder’s Day, under the theme “Celebrating Vision & Empowering the Future.”
This year’s event carries a double significance. Alongside the annual milestone, NDIM will honour the 100th birth anniversary of its late Founder Chairman, Shri Jaswant Rai Ji Bansal. For students, faculty, alumni and corporate partners of this Delhi MBA institute, it is a day to look back at where the institute began and forward to where it is heading.
Honouring a Historic Centenary: Shri Jaswant Rai Ji Bansal
The centenary of a founder’s birth is rare, and NDIM is treating it that way. Shri Jaswant Rai Ji Bansal was a freedom fighter who later gave decades to public service. According to NDIM, he served as a Member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and as Chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC). NDIM’s own pages also describe him as the freedom fighter who set up the institute together with legal luminaries such as Justice R.S. Sarkaria.
That background shaped the kind of institution he wanted to build: one grounded in public values, merit and a close link between education and the world of work. You can read more about his thinking on the Founder Chairman’s Message page, and about the institute’s present leadership in the CEO and Vice Chairman’s Message.
Chief Guest: Mr. Rajiv Kumar (IAS)
NDIM has announced Mr. Rajiv Kumar (IAS) as Chief Guest for the day. As per the institute’s announcement, he is the Chairman of HDFC Bank, a former Chief Election Commissioner of India and a former Finance Secretary to the Government of India. You can see the details in NDIM’s official Founder’s Day post on Facebook.
His presence fits a pattern. NDIM regularly brings senior leaders from government and business onto campus. Earlier this year, the institute held its 28th Convocation on 13 March 2026 with the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi, as Chief Guest, as reported by The People Management. It also recently hosted Mr. Anup Bagchi, MD and CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, as shown in a post on NDIM’s Facebook page. For students, these interactions are part of the learning, not a side event. They are built into the Industry Knowledge Series and other programmes under NDIM’s industry interface.
Carrying the Founder’s Vision into Management Education Today
A founder’s day is a good moment to ask what the vision looks like in practice. For a PGDM institute, the answer shows up in what students actually do: live projects, internships, corporate mentoring and visits to working companies.
According to NDIM, its PGDM programme is AICTE-approved, NBA-accredited and granted equivalence to an MBA by the Association of Indian Universities. The institute also reports that the AICTE-CII survey ranked it first among industry-linked management institutes for three years in a row, and that it has received recognition from bodies such as FICCI and ASSOCHAM. These are institute-reported claims, so applicants should check the latest details on the placements page and ask for batch-level data. Learning also happens outside the classroom, for example through plant visits that show students how production and operations actually run.
For anyone comparing PGDM colleges in Delhi NCR, this practical, industry-linked approach is worth weighing alongside fees and rankings. NDIM’s 2027-29 course fee is listed on its fee and scholarships page. If you are still working out which exams to target, NDIM’s guides on the CAT 2026 entrance exam, the MAT 2026 exam and SNAP 2026 are a good place to start. Readers new to the terminology can also read this explainer on the MBA full form, exams, courses and fees, or our wider comparison of the top 10 MBA colleges in India.
Event Details
- Date: Thursday, 15 October 2026
- Time: 2:00 PM onwards (guests are requested to be seated by 1:50 PM)
- Venue: NDIM Campus, 60 & 50 (B&C), Tughlakabad Institutional Area, Behind Batra Hospital, New Delhi 110062
- Chief Guest: Mr. Rajiv Kumar (IAS)
Join the Celebration
Students, faculty, alumni and corporate partners are warmly invited to attend. To register or ask about the event, write to [email protected]. To learn more about the institute before you visit, start at the NDIM homepage.
