The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are a group of public business schools in India, established and empowered under the Indian Institutes of Management Act, 2017. Designated as Institutions of National Importance, the IIMs primarily offer postgraduate, doctoral and executive education in management and allied areas. They are widely regarded as the country's premier management institutions and are administratively overseen by the Ministry of Education, Government of India.
| Type | Public business schools (Institutions of National Importance) |
|---|---|
| Governing legislation | Indian Institutes of Management Act, 2017 |
| First institute | IIM Calcutta (1961) |
| Second institute | IIM Ahmedabad (1961) |
| Ministry | Ministry of Education, Government of India |
| Common entrance test | Common Admission Test (CAT) |
| Flagship programme | Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP/MBA) |
| Country | India |
Overview
Each IIM is an autonomous institution with its own Board of Governors, and is empowered to award degrees in its own name following the 2017 Act, which replaced the earlier system in which the institutes awarded post-graduate diplomas. The IIMs collectively administer the Common Admission Test (CAT), which is also used by several other Indian management schools as a basis for admission.
Background
The IIM system originated in the early 1960s as part of national efforts to build modern institutions of higher learning in management to support India's industrial and public-sector growth. The first two institutes, at Calcutta and Ahmedabad, were established in 1961 with collaboration from leading international business schools — IIM Calcutta with the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Government of India, and IIM Ahmedabad with the Harvard Business School and the Ford Foundation, alongside Indian industry and the state government of Gujarat. Subsequent institutes were established in different regions over the following decades to expand access to high-quality management education.
List of Indian Institutes of Management
| Institute | Location | Established |
|---|---|---|
| IIM Calcutta | Kolkata, West Bengal | 1961 |
| IIM Ahmedabad | Ahmedabad, Gujarat | 1961 |
| IIM Bangalore | Bengaluru, Karnataka | 1973 |
| IIM Lucknow | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh | 1984 |
| IIM Kozhikode | Kozhikode, Kerala | 1996 |
| IIM Indore | Indore, Madhya Pradesh | 1996 |
| IIM Shillong | Shillong, Meghalaya | 2007 |
| IIM Rohtak | Rohtak, Haryana | 2010 |
| IIM Ranchi | Ranchi, Jharkhand | 2010 |
| IIM Raipur | Raipur, Chhattisgarh | 2010 |
| IIM Tiruchirappalli | Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu | 2011 |
| IIM Kashipur | Kashipur, Uttarakhand | 2011 |
| IIM Udaipur | Udaipur, Rajasthan | 2011 |
| IIM Nagpur | Nagpur, Maharashtra | 2015 |
| IIM Visakhapatnam | Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh | 2015 |
| IIM Bodh Gaya | Bodh Gaya, Bihar | 2015 |
| IIM Amritsar | Amritsar, Punjab | 2015 |
| IIM Sambalpur | Sambalpur, Odisha | 2015 |
| IIM Sirmaur | Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh | 2015 |
| IIM Jammu | Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir | 2016 |
| IIM Mumbai | Mumbai, Maharashtra | 2023 (renamed from NITIE) |
Programmes
The flagship offering at most IIMs is a two-year residential Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP), equivalent to an MBA. Several institutes additionally offer:
- One-year full-time MBA programmes for working executives.
- Doctoral programmes, traditionally known as the Fellow Programme in Management (FPM), now generally awarded as PhD degrees.
- Specialised post-graduate programmes in areas such as agri-business management, public policy, human resource management and analytics.
- Short-term and long-duration executive education programmes for industry and government.
Admissions
Admission to the two-year PGP is primarily through the Common Admission Test (CAT), conducted annually by one of the older IIMs on a rotational basis. Shortlisted candidates undergo further stages such as written ability tests, group exercises and personal interviews. Doctoral and executive programmes use separate admission processes, often considering scores from CAT, GMAT, GRE or institute-specific tests along with work experience.
Governance and the 2017 Act
Before 2017, the IIMs functioned as registered societies and awarded post-graduate diplomas rather than degrees. The Indian Institutes of Management Act, 2017, granted the IIMs the status of Institutions of National Importance, empowered them to award degrees, and provided a uniform statutory framework for governance, while preserving the autonomy of each institute's Board of Governors and academic council.
Significance
The IIMs have played a central role in shaping management education, research and practice in India. Alumni occupy senior positions across Indian and international corporations, government, public policy, academia and entrepreneurship. The institutes also contribute to policy advice, executive training for the civil services and public sector, and management research relevant to emerging economies.
Related topics
- Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
- Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
- Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
- Common Admission Test
- Indian Institutes of Technology
- Ministry of Education (India)
- Institutions of National Importance
- Management education in India
References
- Indian Institutes of Management Act, 2017, Government of India.
- Ministry of Education, Government of India — official communications on the IIMs.
- Official websites of the individual Indian Institutes of Management.