Be it the B-schools, Testing & Assessments companies or the Education Technology companies, India is fast emerging as a destination of strategic importance for global MBA domain players. Ditto for Graduate Management Admission Council or GMAC, which runs the popular GMAT exam from its headquarters in US. GMAC held the first GMAT Test Prep Summit in India on December 8, which is being seen as its first step in creating a formidable presence in India.

GMAC invited representatives of the leading test prep organizations like TIME, Jamboree, Manya Group to the ‘GMAT India Test Prep Summit’. The meeting was organized to provide test prep groups with an opportunity to meet face-to-face and put their questions to the officials of the organization that develops and administers the GMAT exam around the world.
 
“The number of GMAT test takers in India has doubled in the last five years. Test prep organizations play an important role in helping the prospective students get ready for the exam. In effect, they are helping GMAT test takers invest in themselves and to pursue graduate business education in India or anywhere in the world,” said Mr. Ashok Sarathy, Vice President - GMAT Program.
 
The number of GMAT exams taken by Indian MBA aspirants has risen from 9,222 in the year 2006 to 21,781 in 2009.  Although the GMAT volume for 2010 has seen a drop from 2009 peak, the number of GMAT takers remains twice as high compared to 2006. The country is contributing to the GMAT testing pool become more international and increasingly diverse.
 
The key speaker of the summit was Dr. Lawrence M. Rudner, Chief Psychometrician, GMAC. The event also featured updates on plans for the Next Generation GMAT, which includes a new integrated reasoning section that will be introduced in June 2012, as well as presentations on GMAT research and test security, and an introduction to the Pearson Test of English, the new test of academic English that is endorsed by GMAC.
 
The GMAT is a standardized exam used by more than 4,700 MBA and other graduate management education programs in almost 2,000 business schools around the world as part of the admissions process. In India there are more than forty institutions that use the GMAT exam. Some of the leading institutions are: the IIMs (A,B,C,I,L); ISB; SPJIMR; IIFT; NMIMS; TISS; XIMB; XLRI; Adani Institute of Infrastructure Management; Institute for Technology and Management.
 
The GMAT exam is offered on-demand and year-round at 16 permanent test centers located in the following cities: New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Ranchi, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Pune, Patna, Jaipur, and Chandigarh.