In a first, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) and the Washington University in St Louis's Olin Business School will be tying up to offer an executive Master of Business Administration (MBA).

The two institutes will be coming together to offer an 18-month programme for senior level executives with classes four times in a month, although some formal approvals for the joint programme are still awaited.

 The institute directors were speaking on the sidelines of an energy symposium in the city on Tuesday. So far, IITB's management school has not offered an executive MBA.

Though the partnership with the Olin Business School has to be formally passed by the IIT-B's senate - the academic decision making body - the board has given its in-principle approval. The programme is however unlikely to be offered before 2014, said officials.

"We think it is really important to engage with senior management professionals and give high quality management education," said Devang Khakhar, IITB director.

"Olin is one of the top schools for executive education," he added.

IIT-B is one of the 28 universities along with Washington University that is part of an international consortium working on energy and sustainability issues.

The consortium has met over the past few days in the city to discuss energy related problems and solutions.

Olin already has a similar tie-up with the Fudan University in Shanghai since 2002.

"We have an established track record and this is an opportunity for us to work in collaboration," said Mark Wrighton, chancellor of Washington University, adding that finer details were still being worked out.