Shoring their presence in the global design firmament with their academic programmes and consultancy works, two Indian institutes have powered their way into the best global design schools list for the second year in a row.

Industrial Design Centre of the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai and Ahmedabad's National Institute of Design are among the 60 schools named in the second annual survey of the best design schools in the world compiled by Businessweek magazine, which is part of the McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.

With 62 graduate students, the Industrial Design Centre of the IIT, Mumbai is a member of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design. "IIT's Industrial Design Centre takes a broad and holistic approach, combining mandatory art and marketing components into an industrial design course," the report says.

The top employers for the centre's students are Ashok Leyland [Get Quote], Honeywell [Get Quote], Tata Motors [Get Quote], Ford, Motorola and Microsoft.

Further, Businessweek notes that "students and professors both do consultancy work and sponsored projects for Mumbai industry, and the Institute hosts conferences on innovation for business leaders from around the world."

The National Institute of Design is described as a design institution with strong links with industry. "NID offers students the chance to work with companies on class design projects and on rapid prototyping through its consulting arm, the Design Vision Centre. In addition, NID now offers a degree program in strategic design," the magazine says.