Tharoor Visits IIM Kozhikode, Praises Chatterjee's Leadership
Synopsis
Congress MP Dr. Shashi Tharoor visited IIM Kozhikode after the full Kerala Cabinet held a two-day retreat on campus, praising Director Debashis Chatterjee's third stint and calling the institute a top-three management school in India.
Key Takeaways
The entire Kerala Cabinet completed a two-day retreat at IIM Kozhikode , using the premier campus as a governance strategy venue.
Debashis Chatterjee is serving his third stint as Director of IIM Kozhikode, an unusual mark of sustained institutional trust.
Tharoor described IIM Kozhikode as among 'the top three management institutions in India' under Chatterjee's leadership.
IIM Kozhikode was founded in 1996 as the fifth IIM, established to expand management education in southern India.
Tharoor praised the campus as 'easily one of the most attractive of any educational institution in the country.' The visit reflects a broader trend of state governments using IIM campuses for high-level policy retreats, aided by greater institutional autonomy under the IIM Act 2017 .
A two-day retreat by the entire Kerala Cabinet at one of India's most celebrated management campuses — and Congress MP Dr. Shashi Tharoor was glad to be back for it. Posting on X on Saturday, 26 September 2026, Tharoor offered a warm endorsement of IIM Kozhikode and its long-serving Director, calling the institution a top-three management school in the country.
Chatterjee's third stint and what it signals for IIM-K
Tharoor singled out Debashis Chatterjee, describing him as being in his 'third stint as Director of IIM Kozhikode' — an unusual distinction that speaks to the confidence both the institution and its stakeholders place in his continuity. He went further, noting that Chatterjee could 'truly be considered an honorary Malayali,' a characterisation that captures how deeply embedded the director has become in Kerala's academic and civic life.
Under Chatterjee's leadership, Tharoor said, IIM Kozhikode has risen to rank among 'the top three management institutions in India' — a claim consistent with the school's strong showings in national rankings in recent years. The institute was established in 1996 as the fifth Indian Institute of Management, part of a deliberate push to expand world-class management education into southern India.
The Kerala Cabinet retreat at IIM-K
The headline detail in Tharoor's post is institutional rather than personal: the entire Keralam Cabinet just completed a two-day retreat on the IIM Kozhikode campus. The choice of venue is itself a signal — IIM campuses have increasingly served as neutral, intellectually charged settings for state-level strategy and governance workshops, a trend that has grown alongside the autonomy IIMs gained under the IIM Act 2017.
Using a state government's annual retreat to spotlight a central institution's infrastructure and standing is also a quiet piece of soft diplomacy between the state and a premier nationally-funded body located within its borders.
A campus Tharoor calls the country's most attractive
Beyond rankings and governance, Tharoor reserved particular praise for the physical setting — describing IIM Kozhikode as 'easily one of the most attractive campuses of any educational institution in the country.' The sprawling hilltop campus in Kozhikode, Kerala is frequently cited for its architecture and green cover, and Tharoor's note that he was 'pleased to be back' suggests this is not his first visit to the institution.
For a constituency MP from neighbouring Thiruvananthapuram, championing a Kerala-based IIM carries both regional pride and a broader argument: that the state's public institutions, when led with consistency and vision, can compete at the very top of India's higher-education landscape.
Point of View
A dynamic accelerated by the IIM Act 2017. Chatterjee's multi-term directorship is itself a policy argument: that management stability at the top drives institutional rise, a point relevant to ongoing debates about tenure and accountability at centrally-funded universities. For Tharoor, amplifying this signals alignment with Kerala's knowledge-economy identity ahead of future electoral and policy conversations.
NationPress
26 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the Kerala Cabinet hold its retreat at IIM Kozhikode?
The Kerala Cabinet chose IIM Kozhikode for its two-day retreat, a reflection of the campus's rising stature as a top management institution and its world-class infrastructure, consistent with a broader national trend of state governments using IIM campuses for high-level strategy sessions.
Who is Debashis Chatterjee and how many times has he led IIM Kozhikode?
Debashis Chatterjee is an academic who has served as Director of IIM Kozhikode across multiple terms; according to Tharoor's post, he is currently in his third stint in the role.
What is IIM Kozhikode's ranking among Indian management schools?
Tharoor described IIM Kozhikode as one of the top three management institutions in India, consistent with its strong performance in national management rankings in recent years.
When was IIM Kozhikode established?
IIM Kozhikode was established in 1996 as the fifth Indian Institute of Management, set up to expand quality management education in southern India.
What is the IIM Act 2017 and how does it affect institutions like IIM Kozhikode?
The IIM Act 2017 granted Indian Institutes of Management greater institutional autonomy, supporting their ability to set academic standards, manage leadership, and attract resources — factors that have contributed to their rise in national rankings.
