Grant Thornton Bharat, one of India’s leading professional services firms, and Maharaja Agrasen Technical Education Society (MATES), a non-profit organization today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen their partnership as knowledge partners. This is  seen by both as a strategic step towards inclusive industry – academia partnership for skilling young students with the best industry practices.

The MoU was exchanged at an event held at Grant Thorton Bharat’s office at Delhi in the presence of Dr. Nand Kishore Garg,  Founder Chairman & Chief Advisor MATES, Shri Vineet Kumar Gupta, Chairman MATES, all the Trust members of MATES, Mr. Siddharth Nigam, Parter & Leader Advisory Services GTB,  Mr. Siddharth Talwar, Partner & CFO Financial Reporting Advisory, GTB, Mr. Pradeep Pandey, Director Learning & Development Academy and his complete team engaged in this partnership.

Under this MOU, Grant Thornton Bharat and MATES collaborated on various initiatives aimed at providing technical education futuristic and employment specific business analytical technical education and skill enhancement opportunities to students of MATES.

As part of the MOU, Grant Thornton Bharat will deliver a comprehensive program of 200 hours over two years to students of MATES. The program will comprise 150 hours of business analytics training for students of PGDM qualification, and 50 hours of Fintech training for students who choose finance as their specialization.

In addition, Grant Thornton Bharat will provide ACCA qualification training to students in India, both online and in-person, with suitable faculty available to deliver the training sessions. The firm’s commitment to education extends beyond the classroom, and it will also offer apprenticeships, internships, and live projects to eligible students for a period of no more than two months.

The students who successfully complete the program will have the opportunity to be considered for job placement at Grant Thornton Bharat. The top students who meet the eligibility criteria, such as CGP score of 70% or above, attendance of 80% or above, trainers’ feedback of A level, and successful completion of all projects within the allotted time, will be given the chance to appear before an interview panel appointed by the firm. Based on the panel’s clearance, the students may be hired as Sr Associate or Consultant at Grant Thornton Bharat.

The major aim behind this collaboration is to bridge the industry-academia gap through active participation of industry and corporate experts. This collaboration will have 360 degree involvement of Grant Thornton Bharat from student development to conducting live projects/internship and finally providing placement opportunities.

Commenting on the association, Mr. Siddharth Nigam, Partner Grant Thornton Bharat, “We are thrilled to partner with Maharaja Agrasen Technical Education Society as our knowledge partner.” He further added, “This partnership is a testament to our commitment to contribute effectively to our initiative of shaping vibrant India by providing industry specific trainings for enhancing the skills of students for a brighter future. We believe that this collaboration will help to bring about a positive impact on the future of technical education and industry- academia partnerships in India.”

Commenting on the association, Shri Vineet Kumar Gupta, Chairman MATES, said, “Maharaja Agrasen Technical Education Society is dedicated to providing quality technical education to more than 10,000 students studying in various institutions of MATES. We are pleased to partner with Grant Thornton Bharat to further our mission and help bridge the gap between education and industry. This partnership will be opening many opportunities for our students and will help them build a bright future in the financial and business analytics field with a strong foundation set though this partnership. We look forward to a long and productive partnership.”

Commenting on the association, Prof (Dr.) Sanjiv Marwah, Director, Maharaja Agrasen Business School said, “We are extremely proud to partner with Grant Thornton Bharat and believe this association will greatly benefit our students. This was a long awaited one of its kind industry initiatives which academia was awaiting for a while now. With the NEP opening up new pedagogies for skill enhancement of students for making them placement ready upon completion of their PGDM course; such partnerships will contribute not only to improving employability of students but will help in developing a new generation of professionals who would be capable of future forecasting and taking informed decisions from past practices. The combination of expert knowledge and hands-on experience provided through this MOU will provide a unique learning opportunity for our students to excel in their respective fields. We are confident that this partnership will help our students to achieve their full potential and set them up for successful careers. We look forward to a long and productive relationship with Grant Thornton Bharat.”

The partnership between Grant Thornton Bharat and Maharaja Agrasen Technical Education Society represents a significant investment in the future of India’s workforce and reflects both organizations’ commitment to providing quality education and skill development opportunities to students and professionals.