He was Director of the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), a premier management school located in India, from 2007 until 2011.
Bhandari was one of the youngest business school directors in India when he took over this responsibility, and during his tenure IRMA's research impacted policy at the national level in a variety of fields related to rural development.
As a result, the institute also received national and international recognitions under his leadership, most notably from the Canadian agency, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), as well as ministries in the Government of India.