GMAT to set up offices in India soon

Excerpts from India Business Hour on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show » Nifty BSE | NSE 31/05/12 Are Mutual Funds betting on Nifty?

GMAT (Graduate Management Aptitude Test) now plans to set up offices in India. It has asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for approval to establish a base here with significant investment on the charts and this comes after a pick up in demand from India, making the country its biggest market.

CNBC-TV18's Kritika Saxena caught up with the CEO of GMAT David Wilson on his visit to India and began by asking him about the growth since 2008.

Below is a verbatim transcript of the interview. Also watch the video.

Q: What kind of growth has been witnessed since 2008?

A: In November 2008, we saw a slowdown from 20-30% growth we had enjoyed for about 4-5 years in India. That slowdown stopped in 2009 and if I start comparing November 2009 to November 2008, we are looking at a 10% growth again. So we are trying to see the Indian market come back very strong.

Q: What is the plan right now and in terms of investment if you do get an approval what would be the amount that you would be looking at chartering out?

A: We have asked RBI for an approval to open an office here. As soon as we get that, we expect it momentarily, we will open the office here. We have already invested heavily in India, we have 17 test centers in 14 cities. That is about a USD 3 million investment initially. But we would look forward to making greater investment for more and better access.

Q: Would you be looking at setting offices in tier I and then look at tier II cities and how would it change an Indian student's life? Would it be easier for an Indian student to apply for a GMAT? What would be the impact on a student?

A: A student can apply for the GMAT online at mba.com anytime and so to go back to your question, we would start definitely with tier I but if you look in many ways tier II and tier III are these exciting little hot beds of entrepreneurial spirit and social entrepreneurism. We are going to make it possible for even greater and easier access for candidates to get test centers. We have 17--we would love to see many more.