Having served on INS Rajput -- the lead ship of Rajput-class guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy -- and INS Kiltan, an anti-submarine corvette, 31-year-old Lieutenant Commander Anurag Reddy is now walking the hallowed hallways of Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIMA) trying to pick up business management skills that will help him “transition from the uniform to the boardroom.”
“The rationale behind joining the IIMA was to build a strong foundation which will help me transition into the world of business. The Navy does prepare you for the VUCA environment ( a military paradigm that stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity), but the management education at IIMA will help arm me with the necessary skills for my journey ahead,” says Reddy who has enrolled in the new batch (2025-26) of One-Year Post Graduate Programme in Management for Executives (MBA-PGPX) at Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIMA).
Of the total students of the 20th batch, eight students are from defence forces -- the highest such enrolment since the year 2019-20 -- including those from the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Like Reddy who served the Indian Navy for 10 years, his colleague Lieutenant Commander (retired) Arushi Verma, a mother to a 2-year-old, decided to pursue management education after a career spent largely in refitting Indian and foreign naval warships.
Verma who was a part of the commissioning-team of INS Vikrant -- India’s first indigenously designed aircraft carrier -- says, “I was an officer from Short Service Commission (SSC) and my tenure with the Indian Navy lasted 10 years. While I was refitting foreign ships, I handled teams of more than 300 personnel adhering to strict timelines and I believe my leadership skills and resilience will help me remain steadfast in the corporate world.”
The mean annual domestic salary (maximum earning potential) for the PGPX batch of 2023 stood above ₹36.41 lakh.
In the last seven years IT Solutions and Consulting have remained the preferred career choice for the students with defence backgrounds. When asked about the jump in remuneration that an ex-serviceman gets after passing through IIMA, Colonel Manish Kohli who passed out last year says, “These days defence forces pay you handsomely, but there is no doubt that the corporate sector gives you an edge as far as money is concerned.”
Kohli, who was a helicopter pilot with the Indian Army, now works with an American multinational pharmaceutical company. “Though an MBA helps you transition into the business world, it also gives you an exposure into technology. This helped me use data science in business,” he says.
A PGPX student from the new batch, Lieutenant Commander (retired) Rohan Bhuskute -- who spearheaded the Indian Navy’s first indigenous helicopter production line under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative -- outlines the factors that led him to pursue education in a B-school: “After my diplomatic assignment at Maldives I thought I could reapply my leadership qualities and experiences to solve business challenges. For transitioning from the uniform to the board room, it requires a new tool kit”.
Bhuskute who was the youngest officer selected for a diplomatic mission to the Maldives -- where his exemplary service earned him commendations from both the Indian High Commission and the Maldives National Defence Force -- eyes a consulting role in strategy and operations to back his experience from the Indian Navy.
Recently, 158 experienced professionals from diverse sectors joined the PGPX programme. With 110 (69.62 per cent) male students and 48 female students (30.38 per cent), the 2025-2026 batch of MBA-PGPX consists of the highest number of female candidates in the programme so far.
It comprises students from diverse sectors, including Advertising/Media, Aerospace and Aviation, Agriculture, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance, Consulting, Defence and Security, Energy and Utilities, among others.