After medicine and engineering, management education is offering the programme in Hindi. B-Schools have traditionally been associated with English-medium classrooms. IGNOU pioneered by launching first of its kind Hindi MBA courses in ODL mode, which helped the students from Hindi medium schools in remote areas complete the course successfully. IIM Udaipur is attempting to challenge the language model by offering online Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Hindi and English. This will make undergraduate management education accessible to learners across linguistic, geographic and socio-economic backgrounds.
The four-year programme, offered in Hindi and English, comes at a time when higher education institutions are increasingly embracing multilingual education in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. More than introducing another online degree, IIM Udaipur positions the programme as a response to a structural challenge expanding access to quality management education without diluting academic standards.
Bridging Gaps
Speaking to Education Times, Prof Kunal Kamal Kumar, chairperson, BBA Programme, IIM Udaipur, says the institute’s objective is to remove long-standing barriers that prevent capable learners from accessing quality management education.
“The gap is not that of talent but of access. India has millions of capable learners who are filtered out of quality higher education not because they lack ability, but because the system often assumes English fluency, campus relocation, full-time attendance and a financial cushion.” The programme targets a broad learner base, including fresh class XII graduates, NIOS students, diploma holders, working professionals, homemakers, entrepreneurs, family-business learners and students from tier-II, tier-III cities and rural India.
“Talent does not have a pin code. Opportunity often does. This programme is our attempt to correct that imbalance,” Prof Kumar says.
Beyond Translation
Rather than translating existing course material into Hindi, the IIM Udaipur has designed a bilingual pedagogy from the ground up. “This is not a translation project. It is a bilingual learning architecture,” says Prof Kumar.
Management concepts are introduced through Hindi-first explanations while retaining globally accepted English business terminology. The aim, Kumar explains, is to strengthen conceptual understanding without disconnecting students from the vocabulary of business and industry. Students can learn and write assessments in both Hindi and English during the BBA programme, gradually building familiarity with professional English terminology.
“Hindi is a medium of conceptual access, not a lower academic tier. The same course objectives, faculty oversight, assessment design and evaluation integrity apply,” he adds.
Building Employability
Perhaps the biggest question surrounding online undergraduate management programmes is employability. Unlike flagship residential MBA programmes, where placement statistics often define institutional success, IIM Udaipur says it has consciously avoided positioning the BBA as a placement-guarantee programme. “We are not selling a job guarantee. We are building the capability, credibility, and opportunity visibility that help learners compete,” Prof Kumar says.
Instead, the curriculum has been designed around long-term career readiness. Students will undergo professional skills modules, mandatory internships, industry-readiness workshops, and business projects alongside academic coursework. The institute is also developing a BBA Alumni Career Connect platform to help graduates connect with verified employers.
“Graduates can pursue multiple pathways. Some may move into entry-level roles in sales, marketing, retail, operations, customer relationship management, banking and insurance support, digital marketing, data-enabled business roles, finance and taxation support, or business administration. Others may use the degree to strengthen family businesses, MSMEs, startups, or entrepreneurial plans. Students completing the honours year may also be better prepared for postgraduate study, including MBA and other management pathways,” he adds.
Developing AI-Ready Talent
Artificial intelligence has also been integrated into the curriculum as businesses increasingly expect graduates to work alongside AI-enabled technologies.
“AI is treated as a practical business capability. Students will learn AI-assisted business workflows, data analytics, digital marketing and a dedicated AI for Business course during the honours year, alongside exposure to technology-enabled decision-making,” Prof Kumar says.
Technology also underpins programme delivery. While lectures, tutorials and assessments are delivered online, semester-end examinations will continue to be conducted at invigilated centres. “We are using technology to widen access, but we are using academic design to protect quality,” he adds.
Navigating Challenges
Delivering management education in two languages without compromising academic rigour remains one of the biggest challenges. Business education relies heavily on precise terminology, case studies and globally accepted management concepts, making conceptual equivalence across languages critical.
“The challenge is to widen the gate without weakening the guardrails,” says Prof Kumar, adding that maintaining academic quality requires more than translating terminology. Faculty-developed bilingual content, common learning outcomes and identical assessment standards are intended to ensure students studying in Hindi receive the same academic experience as those studying in English.
To address this, the programme combines recorded lectures with live tutorials, faculty masterclasses, discussion forums, scheduled quizzes and structured assessments. The institute must also accommodate learners entering with varying levels of English proficiency, digital literacy and academic preparation.
A Test Case
Whether bilingual management education can gain wider acceptance will depend not only on enrolments but also on graduate outcomes, employer perceptions and student success.
“The institute views the programme as a possible blueprint for multilingual professional education the future expansion into postgraduate programmes or additional Indian languages will depend on evidence rather than ambition. This programme can become a testbed for multilingual management education, but expansion must be evidence-led,” Prof Kumar concludes.
