Students Spend 12 Months in a Residential Programme, With No Payment Expected From Employers for Live Projects

Anushree Poddar, programme director of the PGP in Sustainability & Business Management at Masters' Union, said at the fifth Mint Sustainability Summit in Mumbai that a disconnect between academia and industry is creating a talent gap in India's sustainability sector. There exists a great gap between how businesses work and integrate sustainability, and how sustainability is being taught, she said, noting employers often choose between business graduates with little sustainability knowledge and sustainability graduates with limited business understanding. Poddar, who studied commerce at Delhi University and earned a PhD at TERI University before roles in academia and Samsung Electronics' CSR division, said Masters' Union has introduced a 16-month postgraduate programme combining classroom learning with live industry projects.

Students spend 12 months in a residential programme, with no payment expected from employers for live projects. The curriculum, developed with industry leaders and academics, integrates ESG, climate finance, carbon markets, renewable energy, circular economy, waste management, agri-tech, supply chain, business models, AI in business, communications and storytelling. The programme has attracted students from agriculture, biotechnology, life sciences, zoology, commerce and engineering backgrounds, plus participants from Deloitte, Accenture, ITC and Aon.

Around 50-60 students have enrolled, with about 60% having prior sustainability experience. According to LinkedIn's Green Skills Report 2025, India's hiring rate for green talent is 59.7% higher than that of the overall workforce. Masters' Union is a Gurugram-based institution offering postgraduate and executive programmes in business management, technology, finance, family business and sustainability.