Patna: Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari on Wednesday inaugurated the Chandragupta Institute of Management Patna (CIMP), a business school on the lines of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).

Ansari described the CIMP as a big step for modern education. Classes at the institute will begin from the makeshift campus at Hindi Bhawan here from the first week of July. It will initially have a batch of 60 students.

CIMP director V. Mukunda Das last month said IIM-Ahmedababd (IIM-A) had agreed in principle to support CIMP with its technical expertise in setting up the library, although a formal announcement was yet to be made by the authorities in this regard.

Like the IIMs, the proposed institute will offer MBA and other management degrees. Admission to it will be through the Common Admission Test (CAT).

A group of alumni and faculty of IIM-A, who hail from Bihar, have helped the state government establish the CIMP. The state government had already earmarked 20 acres of land to build the institute.

The vice president, who is on a two-day visit to Bihar, was received at the Jai Prakash Narayan International airport by Governor R.S. Gavai and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and given a guard of honour.

Ansari was scheduled to attend a function at Imarat-E-Sharia, an influential Muslim body, in Phulwarisharif on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday, he will visit the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya. IANS