Having produced IT professionals galore, leading IT training institute NIIT has now decided to churn out bankers and financial executives in thousands to feed the rising manpower requirement in these sectors.

A new virtual training programme for working executives in collaboration with IIMs would also be offered in the city soon. All these programmes have elicited good response in metros. Bhubaneswar would be one of the first tier-II cities to avail of the unique opportunity, said president (strategic initiative) NIIT Smarajit Dey.

The corporation has set up the NIIT Institute of Finance Banking and Insurance here. It would offer a sixmonth PG course by the same name under a tie-up with ICICI Bank. Industry estimates that both the banking and insurance sectors would generate over six lakh employment opportunities each in the next five years.

The programme would be imparted by industry professionals. The candidates would also be exposed to three months of practical training sessions. ‘‘It would be a kind of learn-while-you-earn initiative,’’ he said. Immediately after completing the course, a candidate will be absorbed by ICICI and HDFC banks. ICICI had already recruited about 1000 pass-outs from the metros in the last one year.Each batch here would have 40 students initially. The first batch would go into motion from October.

The company’s second offering, the NIIT Imperia Centre for Advanced Learning, is meant for working executives who seek to have that extra edge to climb the corporate ladder fast. The course model has been designed in collaboration with IIM Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Indore and Institute of Management and Technology, Ghaziabad.

Teaching would be through a ‘synchronous learning technology platform,’ enabling both the learners and the teachers interact and see each other from their respective places. ‘‘If India has to sustain its nine percent growth rate, productivity of middle-level managers and executives has to be raised dramatically by opting for such programmes,’’ Dey asserted. Several sector specific subjects would be offered under this initiative, ranging from four to 12 months.

For both the programmes, the certificates would be awarded by the respective organisations with which NIIT has tied-up. And for each of these programmes, aspiring candidates would have to pass through a screening test.