GRK Reddy is the Chennai-based chairman and managing director of MARG Group (estb. 1994), a thriving infrastructure conglomerate comprising six separate businesses including the 1,000-acre MARG Swarnabhoomi ” a unique complex which integrates education, research and industry into a model people, energy and resource-efficient ecosystem. The Swarnabhoomi Academic Institutions (SAI) trust (estb. 2011) comprise the Marg Institute of Design and Architecture Swarnabhoomi (MIDAS); Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM) and Marg Navjyothi Vidyalaya, a CBSE-affiliated K-12 school.

Newspeg. In February, the SAI trust formally inaugurated the MIDAS Institute of Smart City Planning and Management which offers a one-year postgraduate diploma programme in urban planning and management. The institute is set to admit its first batch this month.
Direct talk. The existing system of education doesn’t encourage creativity and has little relevance in the 21st century. The objective of the MIDAS Institute is to introduce innovative programmes in civic planning and management by promoting industry-institute collaboration. In SAM, we follow the gurukula system of training which encourages teacher-student interaction inside and outside classroom, says Reddy.

History. A commerce postgraduate of Nagarjuna University, Guntur, and alumnus of the renowned Kellogg School of Management, USA, Reddy started his career with CIFCO Finance in 1990 before promoting the MARG Group in 1994. Since then, he has developed MARG into a highly diversified infrastructure corporation engaged in logistics, marine, urban and industrial construction and real estate (residential and commercial) development. In 2011, he promoted the Swarnabhoomi education institutions and currently, MIDAS, SAM and Marg Navjyothi Vidyalaya together host over 1,000 students and 80 permanent and 20 visiting faculty. We are working on developing a model of innovative urbanisation by purposively integrating commercial and residential spaces, schools and colleges, says Reddy.

Future plans. Next on SAI trust’s agenda are job-oriented vocational education and training programmes. Right now, we are designing diploma courses in fashion and interior design, music and dance and a postgrad degree in architecture. Our aim is to develop a globally benchmarked, cross-disciplinary education complex which will also include an arts and science college and research institutions, says Reddy.

Wind in your sails!

Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)