Institute of Hotel Management, Mumbai was founded as Institute of Catering and Institutional Management, is the first of its kind in South East Asia on June 27, 1954 by the All India Women’s Central Food Council under the leadership of Lilavati Munshi who was the wife of the then food minister, K.M. Munshi.
It has its humble beginnings in am old army barrack of Bhavans college campus, Versova. Its main aim back then was to provide nutritious food to the common people at economical rates due to a drought the country was facing. To serve this purpose, a chain of Annapoornas (restaurants) was setup throughout the country, primarily in the metropolitan cities by Lilavati Munshi, with a band of like minded women which included Homi J H Taleyarkhan and Leela N Jog. This led to the formation of the All India Women’s Central Food Council established The critical factor however was to find trained personnel who could cater to nutrition as well as run these Annapoornas on a self-financing basis. Hence the necessity of having a training institute emerged.
Hotel management & catering technology was still a young discipline in those days even in the West, in fact, the school of Hotel Administration of Cornell University bifurcated from the Department of Home Economics as a separate faculty only in 1954. There was no technical knowhow in our country too, regarding this field. The ministry of Food & Agriculture was tasked with training professionals. There were six students when classes commenced in 1954 at Bhavan’s College Campus, Andheri. P. C. Rajpal deputed from Tea Board of India, after undergoing a study tour of Europe and U.K. under the sponsorship of Food & Agriculture Organisation was the first Principal of the Institute.
At the request of Lilavati Munshi through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Department of food, Belfield Smith of U.K., one of the founder members of Hotel Catering and Institutional Management Association, U.K. was assigned as an expert to India by Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. In March 1956, C. Belfield Smith took over as the Principal of the Institute. Since then there has been no looking back.
In 1958 the Three Year Diploma Programme in Hotel Management & Catering Technology was started, recognized by the Directorate of Technical Education, Maharashtra State. Keeping pace with the continuing growth, the Institute shifted to its own separate campus in Dadar built on the land leased by the State Government in 1966 . It was fondly called Dadar Catering College in those days and was a landmark in its day.
With Thangam E. Philip as its Principal, the growth of the Institute was spectacular with funds coming from the State Government and the Central Government. Other such trainig institutes were also established across the country, the first Food Craft Institute being opened in Kalamassery in 1967. Most Food Craft Institutes were upgraded in 1982-83.
In 1979 the Central Government took over the total financial responsibility of the Institute. National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (Society) was set up in the year 1982 by Govt. of India as an autonomous body for coordinated growth and development of hospitality management education in the country. The Council today, under the Ministry of Tourism, regulates academics in the field of Hospitality Education & training that is imparted at the 21 (twenty one) Central Govt. sponsored Institutes of Hotel Management, 30+ State Govt. sponsored IHMs, 28 Private and 1 IHM operated by Central PSU offering B.Sc. in Hospitality and Hotel Administration , trade Diploma programme in different operational areas of Hotels like Front Office, House Keeping , Food Production and Bakery programs , Certificate and M.Sc. programme . There are 14 (fourteen) Food Craft Institutes that function in different parts of country.
From 6 students in 1954 the number of graduates emerging from the Institute of Hotel Management, Mumbai till date is more than 35,000 students passed and serving Hospitality and allied industries in last seven decades of Catering Education in India.
NCHMCT, Noida (an organisation of Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India ) is updating course curriculum time to time and at present offering B.Sc. in H & HA in collaboration with prestigious Jawarlal Nehru University,New Delhi .
IHM, Mumbai have undergone several upgradation in training infrastructure time to time to provide best suited training to the students as per industry standard.
IHM, Mumbai was again Ist Institute of the region to offer “Advance Training Centre “ on campus with 40 Rooms and 5 Conference Rooms in the Institute campus itself to give real exposure to students time to time .
After the remarkable tenure of Thangum E. Phillip as Principal of Institute for long 23 years which was in-fact a period of trend setting and developing system and procedure with discipline not only for IHM, Mumbai but fir entire catering education in the country .
The trend of dedication and leadership continued in Institute under the leadership of K.V. Simon, S.L. Dhargalkar, R.K. Saxena and A.K. Singh and all faculty and staff along with dedicated, disciplined and Eager to learn and grow students.
Nisheeth Shrivastava, present Principal is committed to take this Institute further in terms of providing high standard hospitality education to students .
IHM, Mumbai an institute imparting training with high professionalism and take due care of training and placement of students in India and abroad at leadership and corporate level and took the hospitality industry to great heights.
The placement sector scenario is changed after covid as before covid 70-75% students were going to hotels which is now reduced to 50-55% as Hotel industry is not offering due to this trained manpower in terms of wages, working conditions and future prospects.
IHM, Mumbai is just celebrating 70 golden years of its existence and strengthening its relationship with alumni of the Institute.
Authored By: 
A.K.Singh
Director, FHRAI-IHM, Greater Noida &
Ex. Principal, IHM,Mumbai, Lucknow and Jodhpur
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