’LITMUS’, the annual IT conclave of NITIE (National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai), consistently ranked as one of the top ten B Schools in our country, was organized on Friday, 13th August 2010. It was the perfect amalgamation of the IT Industry and dynamic business management.

Organized by the students of NITIE’s dedicated IT management course, the Post Graduate Diploma in Information Technology Management (PGDITM), the highlight of the event was “Biz Talk”, a panel discussion on “Leveraging India as a Consumer: The next big catalyst in Indian IT growth story”. Mr. Amod Vijayvargiya - Director, Global Knowledge & Business Services, Capgemini; Mr. Anirvan Saha - Senior Manager, Cognizant Business Consulting; Mr. Dhiren Savla - Director, IT, CRISIL; Mr. Pradeep Erinjery - Chairman & CEO, Thirdware Solutions; and Mr. Rahaju Pal - Director, Enterprise Risk & Services, Delloitte formed the panel. As the stalwarts of the industry, addressed the topic, the audience gained considerable insight into the growing Indian IT industry and its high potential to portray India as a consumer.

“There is a huge potential for the IT sector in the Indian market can be unlocked. Projects like the Unique Identification Project and other e-governance initiatives are opening new avenues for the IT companies”, said Mr.Rahaju Pal. Mr. Dhiren Savla added, “… (India) has 65% of its population below the age of 35; the consumerism is going to increase tremendously in the near future. Indian companies have a great role in taking this growth to the smallest corners of the country.”

Among the inter-college competitions held during LITMUS 2010 were “Biz Warz”, the B Plan competition (won by students from Institute of Technology and Management (ITM) Mumbai), “Sync Quest”, the case study competition (won by Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), Delhi) and “Enigma”, the online quiz (won by FORE School of Management, Delhi). A total of over 500 students from across B Schools all over India participated in these events. Total prize money exceeding Rs 1 lakh was given to the winning teams.

This year, the sponsors for the event were Aditya Birla Group, Siemens, Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Alok Industries. Apart from this, Technopak was the case study partner, MBAUniverse - the media partner, Prueba - the knowledge partner, Loot - the merchandise partner and Dare2Compete - the B-School event partner.

Since its inception, Litmus has provided a platform for business leaders, renowned academicians and B-schools students to tackle some of the most crucial issues which the business faces today and it continued to do so. It culminated with everyone taking away a wealth of knowledge and some great memories.