Late. Prof. Dr. (Col). A. Balasubramanian’s interactions with Professor M.S. Pillai of the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) where he secured his master’s degree in Personnel Management with Distinction, and the encouragement and advise given to him by the Founder Director of the Symbiosis Society, Dr. S. B. Muzumdar, a man who has been placed on a very high pedestal by Late. Prof. Dr. (Col). A. Balasubramanian laid the seeds of what would later become Sri Balaji University, Pune. These seeds soon took root and sprouted in the form of a management institute created exclusively for defence personnel and their families, the Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS). Running under the stewardship of its founder director, Late. Prof. Dr. (Col). A. Balasubramanian, the institute has grown both in size as well as influence and finally emerged as the veritable tree of management education, it is today.

The decision to start a management institution took root in Late. Prof. Dr. (Col.) A. Balasubramanian’s mind when he was engaged in one of the most difficult moments of his life. But, Late. Prof. Dr. (Col). A. Balasubramanian was by no means a ‘quitter’ and he soldiered on resolving to wait for the bright morning which was sure to come after the dark night. The morning soon arrived; Late. Prof. Dr. (Col.) A. Balasubramanian transformed his dream of starting a management institution of excellence into reality by forming a charitable trust, Sri Balaji Society (SBS) laid the foundation stone of the first management institute, The Indian Institute of Modern Management (IIMM) in the last year of the twentieth century, 1999 at the Agrasen High School campus at Yerwada in Pune.

Apart from IIMM (now BIMM), three other management institutes were started under the wings of the Sri Balaji Society (SBS) namely: Indian Centre for Telecom and Management (ICTM), Indian Centre for International Business (ICIB), and Indian Centre for Management and Human Resource Development (ICMHRD). 

The first batch of IIMM, now known as BIMM, graduated in the year 2001. Apart from the PGDM course in management, students had the option to pursue a specialization in PGDM in Personnel Management and Human Resource Development (PM&HRD) and PGDM in Information Technology and Marketing (IT & Marketing). Over the course of time, new courses: Systems, Operations, Executive batch, and so on were added to its existing bouquet of courses. These three institutes were started in the years – 2002, 2003, and 2004 respectively. Along with these four management institutes, the university also runs a law college – Balaji Law College (BLC) and two colleges offering undergraduate programs at Balaji College of Arts, Commerce, and Science (BCACS) these colleges are affiliated with the Savitribai Phule Pune University. Also, Balaji Junior College of Arts Commerce and Science (BJCACS) is affiliated with Maharashtra State Board.

All four institutes of Sri Balaji Society (now Sri Balaji University, Pune – SBUP) were granted AICTE approval for offering PGDM courses in 2005. Post-approval institutes were rechristened as, Balaji Institute of Modern Management (BIMM), Balaji Institute of Telecom & Management (BITM), Balaji Institute of International Business (BIIB), and Balaji Institute of Management and Human Resource Development (BIMHRD).

In 2019, Sri Balaji Society was given the status of Sri Balaji University, Pune (SBUP) which is a deemed university.