Patna: A group of alumni and faculty of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), who hail from Bihar, are helping the state government set up a management institute here on the lines of the prestigious IIMs.

Sources in the Bihar chief minister's office here said a team of IIM-A alumni and faculty visited Patna last week. They are helping the process of establishing the Chandragupta Institute of Management in Patna (CIMP), and were here to chalk out plans for the CIMP library.

"They (IIM-A alumni and faculty) have come forward to provide expertise and consultancy to help the state government to set up the first B-school on the pattern of IIMs," said Anjani Kumar Singh, secretary of the human resources department.

Classes at the CIMP will begin from the next academic session. It will initially have a batch of 60 students.

Newly appointed CIMP director V. Mukunda Das last month said IIM-A has agreed in principle to support CIMP with its technical expertise in setting up the library, although a formal announcement is 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). IANS