IIMA’s food and agribusiness talent draws industry confidence; all 44 students secure summer internships

• 100% placement success: All 44 students of IIMA’s 2026–28 PGP-FABM batch receive summer internship offers.
• Bayer Crop Science leads recruitment: More than 30 organisations from diverse sectors participate, with Bayer emerging as the top recruiter.
• FMCG tops sectoral demand: The segment accounts for 15 internships (34%), followed by agri-inputs and agri-tech with 13 offers (30%).
• Agribusiness talent finds wider avenues: Consulting, quick commerce, climate technology, healthcare and other sectors expand the internship landscape.
• Industry-academia partnership gains momentum: Recruiters value students’ technical grounding, managerial capabilities, clarity of thought and entrepreneurial outlook.

NE EDUCATION BUREAU

AHMEDABAD, NOV 3

When all 44 students in a specialised management programme secure summer internships, it sends a compelling message about the growing demand for talent that understands both agriculture and business. The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) has achieved a 100% internship placement record for its 2026–28 Post-Graduate Programme in Food & Agribusiness Management (PGP-FABM) batch, with more than 30 organisations competing for talent across FMCG, agri-inputs, consulting, quick commerce, climate technology and healthcare. Bayer Crop Science emerged as the top recruiter, underlining the industry’s confidence in professionally trained talent capable of navigating the evolving food and agribusiness ecosystem.

The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) has successfully completed the summer placement process for the 2026–28 batch of its Post-Graduate Programme in Food & Agribusiness Management (PGP-FABM). Concluded on October 27, 2026, the process was conducted in a hybrid format, offering flexibility to participating organisations and students.

All 44 students received internship offers and will undertake their assignments with host organisations between April and June 2027. The achievement reflects the academic grounding of the programme, the calibre of its students and IIMA’s structured placement process in aligning industry requirements with emerging management talent.

More than 30 companies spanning Management Consulting, Agri-Inputs, FMCG, Quick Commerce, Climate Tech, Healthcare and several other sectors participated in the recruitment process. Bayer Crop Science emerged as the top recruiter.

The other regular recruiters included Godrej Agrovet, Nestlé, PepsiCo, United Breweries, Sundrop Brands, Accenture, Ernst & Young (EY), AgVaya, Sahyadri Farms, Varaha, Amul, Everest Instruments, PCI and Laila Wellness.

The process also witnessed keen participation from new and returning recruiters, including HUL, HSBC, Zydex Group, Grow Indigo, Mahyco, First Club Technology, Hetha Organics, Khetika and BloomchemAg. The breadth of participation reflects the expanding avenues for management professionals with specialised knowledge of food systems, agriculture and allied businesses.

Vinoy K, Dekalb Brand Manager, IBSL at Bayer Crop Science, said, “We observed that the candidates have good clarity of thought, articulation skills, and were technically sound. Some of them have a good entrepreneurial mindset, which can be translated to good business ventures in future. The overall interview process was efficiently setup by the placement team and handled professionally”.

Prof. Viswanath Pingali, Chairperson of Placements, said, “It is a pleasure to see PGP-FABM do so well during the summer internship process. The programme is rated as World number 1 in Food and Agribusiness, and it is good to see recruiters reposing faith in the programme”.

Sachidananda Hota, Recruitment Secretary of the PGP-FABM Placement Committee, said, “The Summer Internship Placement process this year has reflected the growing relevance of PGP-FABM talent across the food and agribusiness ecosystem. Our objective has been to enable meaningful alignment between student aspirations and the evolving needs of the agribusiness ecosystem.

“The diversity of recruiters and roles offered this year reflects the expanding scope of the agribusiness sector and the increasing recognition of the value that FABM students bring through their combination of sectoral understanding and managerial capabilities. As a Placement Committee, we have continued to strengthen our engagement with existing recruiters while building relationships with new organisations. We believe that successful summer internships go beyond matching candidates with opportunities; they lay the foundation for meaningful industry exposure, mutual value creation, and long-term relationships between organisations and the institute.”

Sector-wise internship distribution

The sectoral distribution of the 44 internship offers highlights the strong demand for specialised management talent across traditional and emerging business segments.

FMCG and Agri-Input & Agri-tech together account for 28 of the 44 internships, or 64% of the cohort. The distribution also points to the widening reach of food and agribusiness management expertise into newer sectors such as quick commerce and climate technology.

IIMA stated that further details of the placement process would be made available through an audited report in accordance with the Indian Placement Reporting Standards (IPRS). Introduced by the institute to promote greater transparency in B-school placement reporting across the country, the report’s link will be shared with all stakeholders once it is released.