For Tamanna Usman, a native of Mumbai, Singapore is far from home. But that was part of the allure for the 29-year-old, who enrolled in SP Jain's global MBA programme, launched in Singapore in 2006.

As part of the one-year MBA offered by the SP Jain Center of Management, students spend six months in Singapore and six months at the school's Dubai campus. Ms Usman enrolled in the overseas MBA, instead of SP Jain's flagship programme in Mumbai, because it spans one year instead of two and offered her international experience.