It is the degree of desirability InsideIIM's users attach to each business school. This is purely based on how badly they want to join each school in relation to others. This ranking is NOT a comment on placements, academics, research or the quality of professors at a business school. Clearly, this ranking ONLY reflects the brand each of the schools in this list of 48 has created for themselves in the mind of an Aspirant who will join b-schools in 2018.
The ranking below will tell you how India's brightest students are likely to make decisions when choosing business schools to join. Please note that there are issues such as fees, location, batch size, domain specialisations, etc. which are taken into account when a student makes a decision. Hence, it is not necessary that everyone follows this ranking when finally accepting admission. Not everyone will get calls from all of the schools listed here. Even after getting interview calls, they will get final admissions only from some. The actual decision making is a lot more complex but our list will give Directors, Admissions Chairpersons, Student Media Committees plenty to think about in terms of how their brand is perceived. MBA Aspirants will also know where other top students are likely to join.
Please note Current Students at Business Schools and or Alumni have had no say in this list directly. They may have influenced Aspirants but the votes were given only by MBA Aspirants. In order to prevent media committees and admissions teams to game this survey, we conducted the survey in stealth mode.
Here's the list!
*Baby IIMs include - IIM Nagpur, IIM Jammu, IIM Sirmaur, IIM Sambalpur, IIM Amritsar, IIM Visakhapatnam, and IIM Bodh Gaya
Here's a consolidated list of the aforementioned schools with their fees, gender diversity data, and their batch size.
| Ranks | B-School Name | Mean Score | Type | Zone | Fees | Gender Diversity(% of women) | Batch Size |
| 1 | IIM Ahmedabad | 93.33 | Government | West | ₹1,878,000 | 30.39% | 441 |
| 2 | IIM Calcutta | 90.54 | Government | East | ₹1,900,000 | 31.30% | 460 |
| 3 | IIM Bangalore | 89.74 | Government | South | ₹1,870,000 | 28.15% | 405 |
| 4 | FMS Delhi | 87.15 | Government | North | ₹20,960 | 18.89% | 217 |
| 5 | XLRI Jamshedpur | 85.98 | Private/Trust | East | ₹2,000,000 | 27.47% | 364 |
| 6 | IIM Lucknow | 83.44 | Government | North | ₹1,406,000 | 30.09% | 462 |
| 7 | ISB Hyderabad | 78.3 | Private/Trust | South | ₹3,027,475 | 31% | 905 |
| 8 | IIM Kozhikode | 77.87 | Government | South | ₹1,600,000 | 28.88% | 374 |
| 9 | IIM Indore | 75.42 | Government | West | ₹1,300,000 | 39.45% | 545 |
| 10 | IIFT Delhi | 74.9 | Government | North | ₹1,570,000 | 32.34% | 167 |
| 11 | SPJIMR Mumbai | 73.99 | Private/Trust | West | ₹1,460,000 | 41.32% | 242 |
| 12 | JBIMS Mumbai | 73.76 | Private/Trust | West | ₹210,000 | 12.23% | 139 |
| 13 | MDI Gurgaon | 70.24 | Private/Trust | North | ₹1,886,000 | NA | NA |
| 14 | IIM Shillong | 64.52 | Government | East | ₹800,000 | 12.36% | 178 |
| 15 | NITIE Mumbai | 62.68 | Government | West | ₹626,500 | NA | NA |
| 16 | SJMSoM IIT Bombay | 60.52 | Government | West | ₹899,504 | 46.02% | 113 |
| 17 | TISS Mumbai | 57.86 | Private/Trust | West | ₹238,600 | 32.84% | 67 |
| 18 | NMIMS Mumbai | 57.81 | Private/Trust | West | ₹1,800,000 | 32.57% | 697 |
| 19 | IIFT Kolkata | 57.17 | Government | East | ₹16,25,000 | NA | NA |
| 20 | IIM Ranchi | 56.8 | Government | East | NA | 35.63% | 247 |
| 21 | DoMS IIT Delhi | 56.55 | Government | North | NA | NA | NA |
| 22 | SIBM Pune | 56.22 | Private/Trust | West | ₹1,825,000 | NA | NA |
| 23 | IIM Rohtak | 56.03 | Government | North | ₹1,050,000 | 9.54% | 262 |
| 24 | IIM Trichy | 55.64 | Government | South | ₹13,20,000 | 13.41% | 179 |
| 25 | IIM Udaipur | 55.55 | Government | North | ₹1,072,700 | 23.61% | 233 |
| 26 | IIM Raipur | 54.15 | Government | East | ₹1,232,200 | NA | NA |
| 27 | IIM Kashipur | 51.99 | Government | North | ₹6,29,210 | NA | NA |
| 28 | VGSoM IIT Kharagpur | 51.94 | Government | East | ₹731,330 | NA | NA |
| 29 | MICA Ahmedabad | 51.83 | Private/Trust | West | ₹1,350,000 | 46.67% | 180 |
| 30 | DoMS IIT Madras | 50.06 | Government | South | ₹3,00,000 | NA | NA |
| 31 | SCMHRD Pune | 49.02 | Private/Trust | West | ₹1,545,000 | 41.41% | 227 |
| 32 | XIM Bhubaneshwar | 48.91 | Private/Trust | East | ₹1,540,000 | NA | NA |
| 33 | IMT Ghaziabad | 48.17 | Private/Trust | North | ₹1,650,000 | 33.33% | 543 |
| 34 | Baby IIMs* | 47.96 | Government | Multiple | ₹1,000,000 | NA | NA |
| 41 | K.J.Somaiya | 43.92 | Private/Trust | West | ₹800,000 | 41.11% | 360 |
| 42 | Great Lakes Institute of Management | 40.48 | Private/Trust | South | ₹1,046,000 | NA | NA |
| 43 | IMI Delhi | 39.95 | Private/Trust | North | 1,541,000 | NA | NA |
| 44 | TAPMI Manipal | 39.62 | Private/Trust | South | ₹1,400,000 | NA | NA |
| 45 | SDA Bocconi Asia Center | 35.47 | Private/Trust | West | ₹2,050,000 | 38.10% | 84 |
| 46 | IFMR Chennai | 34.66 | Private/Trust | South | ₹1,200,000 | NA | NA |
| 47 | Welingkar Mumbai | 34.2 | Private/Trust | West | ₹860,000 | NA | NA |
| 48 | SOIL Gurgaon | 30.81 | Private/Trust | North | ₹1,463,817 | NA | NA |
The above list looks at the desirability quotient of 48 Business Schools in India.
This is an Aspirant's perspective. It has always been an important question for us at InsideIIM - to decode how Aspirant's decide which schools to join. We believe a large part of the rankings above can be ascribed to the kind of stories and communication that comes out of a business school. There are also clear indicators around fees, batch size and 'perception' of placements.
IIM Ahmedabad leads the pack. No other school has yet managed to create the kind of brand IIM A has. But there are more interesting questions that one can explore. K before I? SPJIMR before JBIMS? New IIMs after NMIMS Mumbai and TISS Mumbai? And here's what we think...
- IIM Calcutta before IIM Bangalore : This could be because of the selection criteria. IIM Bangalore insists on Work Experience. Check here. Whereas, IIM Calcutta doesn't even consider Graduation scores and percentages of an applicant. Fresher and performed poorly in graduation? IIM Calcutta (Selection Criteria) is the b-school for you. Most numbers of aspirants fall into this category. There is also a significant case for an extremely well connected IIM C alumni body that helps create a brand for the business school globally.
- What about ISB? : A lot of ISB alumni claim that it is not fair to compare ISB with the other business schools in India because they are 1 year and that you need at least 2 years work experience. However, the fact is that most MBA aspirants and most recruiters do compare ISB with other business schools in India. This is reflected in the way students apply as well as how recruiters structure their MBA hire programmes. And hence the 900 plus batch size along with the large fee (even after accounting for the saving of 1 year) makes it a little less desirable to join ISB than it used to be in the mid-2000s.
- FMS Delhi at 4 : FMS' desirability is higher than XLRI and IIM L, I, K. We believe this ranking is particularly because of the ROI factor! For about INR 20,000, you get an MBA Degree and high-quality placements at FMS Delhi. No wonder the Selection Criteria didn't hamper the desirability quotient of the b-school!
- IIM Kozhikode before IIM Indore : Two words - Batch Size. IIM Indore's batch size has made a serious dent to its desirability quotient. With IPM students included, this year the batch size was more than 540 students!
- SPJIMR before JBIMS : Both the colleges are excellent in their own way. And SPJIMR Mumbai is marginally ranked higher by the aspirants in comparison to JBIMS Mumbai. Could this be because of the fact that SPJIMR does profile-based calls as well? Is it also because you have a better chance to get into SPJIMR Mumbai as more seats are available for open category candidates and candidates from outside Maharashtra?
- New IIMs after TISS Mumbai and NMIMS Mumbai : Perhaps brand tag of IIM isn't everything. And MBA aspirants are wise to this. Both TISS and NMIMS have their own exams, also, the fees for NMIMS is much more than that of the New IIMs. Despite these possibly limiting factors, aspirants perceive New IIMs slightly undesirable compared to the TISS and NMIMS Mumbai. TISS, of course, has the ROI factor + small batch size factor to its advantage too. Plus, it's considered to be the second best college when it comes to HR specialisation.
Now let's look at this list in another way. Let's dissect it based on whether it is a Government owned Institute or a Privately owned Institute.
Rankings - Private/Trust Owned Business Schools
| B-School Name | Mean Score | Type | Zone | Fees | Gender Diversity | Batch Size |
| XLRI Jamshedpur | 85.98 | Private/Trust | East | ₹2,000,000 | 27.47% | 364 |
| ISB Hyderabad | 78.3 | Private/Trust | South | ₹3,027,475 | NA | NA |
| SPJIMR Mumbai | 73.99 | Private/Trust | West | ₹1,460,000 | 41.32% | 242 |
| JBIMS Mumbai | 73.76 | Private/Trust | West | ₹210,000 | 12.23% | 139 |
| MDI Gurgaon | 70.24 | Private/Trust | North | ₹1,886,000 | NA | NA |
| TISS Mumbai | 57.86 | Private/Trust | West | ₹238,600 | 32.84% | 67 |
| NMIMS Mumbai | 57.81 | Private/Trust | West | ₹1,800,000 | 32.57% | 697 |
| SIBM Pune | 56.22 | Private/Trust | West | ₹1,825,000 | NA | NA |
| MICA Ahmedabad | 51.83 | Private/Trust | West | ₹1,350,000 | 46.67% | 180 |
| SCMHRD Pune | 49.02 | Private/Trust | West | ₹1,545,000 | 41.41% | 227 |
| XIM Bhubaneshwar | 48.91 | Private/Trust | East | ₹1,540,000 | NA | NA |
| IMT Ghaziabad | 48.17 | Private/Trust | North | ₹1,650,000 | 33.33% | 543 |
| K.J.Somaiya | 43.92 | Private/Trust | West | ₹800,000 | 41.11% | 360 |
| Great Lakes Institute of Management | 40.48 | Private/Trust | South | ₹1,046,000 | NA | NA |
| IMI Delhi | 39.95 | Private/Trust | North | 1,541,000 | NA | NA |
| TAPMI Manipal | 39.62 | Private/Trust | South | ₹1,400,000 | NA | NA |
| SDA Bocconi Asia Center | 35.47 | Private/Trust | West | ₹2,050,000 | 38.10% | 84 |
| IFMR Chennai | 34.66 | Private/Trust | South | ₹1,200,000 | NA | NA |
| Welingkar Mumbai | 34.2 | Private/Trust | West | ₹860,000 | NA | NA |
| SOIL Gurgaon | 30.81 | Private/Trust | North | 1,463,817 | NA | NA |
In this case, it's clearly XLRI Jamshedpur that is leading. XLRI Jamshedpur has one of the best programs for HR in the country and an equally good program for BM. But it's interesting to note that NMIMS Mumbai's Batch Size of almost 700 students does not affect it's desirability quotient in a major way!
It is interesting to note that most InsideIIM Users would opt for XLRI over ISB. We have already explored the possible reasons above.
Rankings - Government Business Schools
| B-School Name | Mean Score | Type | Zone | Fees | Gender Diversity | Batch Size |
| IIM Ahmedabad | 93.33 | Government | West | ₹1,878,000 | 30.39% | 441 |
| IIM Calcutta | 90.54 | Government | East | ₹1,900,000 | 31.30% | 460 |
| IIM Bangalore | 89.74 | Government | South | ₹1,870,000 | 28.15% | 405 |
| FMS Delhi | 87.15 | Government | North | ₹20,960 | 18.89% | 217 |
| IIM Lucknow | 83.44 | Government | North | ₹1,406,000 | 30.09% | 462 |
| IIM Kozhikode | 77.87 | Government | South | ₹1,600,000 | 28.88% | 374 |
| IIM Indore | 75.42 | Government | West | ₹1,300,000 | 39.45% | 545 |
| IIFT Delhi | 74.9 | Government | North | ₹1,570,000 | 32.34% | 167 |
| IIM Shillong | 64.52 | Government | East | ₹800,000 | 12.36% | 178 |
| NITIE Mumbai | 62.68 | Government | West | ₹626,500 | NA | NA |
| SJMSoM IIT Bombay | 60.52 | Government | West | ₹899,504 | 46.02% | 113 |
| IIFT Kolkata | 57.17 | Government | East | ₹16,25,000 | NA | NA |
| IIM Ranchi | 56.8 | Government | East | NA | 35.63% | 247 |
| DoMS IIT Delhi | 56.55 | Government | North | NA | NA | NA |
| IIM Rohtak | 56.03 | Government | North | ₹1,050,000 | 9.54% | 262 |
| IIM Trichy | 55.64 | Government | South | ₹13,20,000 | 13.41% | 179 |
| IIM Udaipur | 55.55 | Government | North | ₹1,072,700 | 23.61% | 233 |
| IIM Raipur | 54.15 | Government | East | ₹1,232,200 | NA | NA |
| IIM Kashipur | 51.99 | Government | North | ₹6,29,210 | NA | NA |
| VGSoM IIT Kharagpur | 51.94 | Government | East | ₹731,330 | NA | NA |
| DoMS IIT Madras | 50.06 | Government | South | ~3,00,000 | NA | NA |
| Baby IIMs* | 47.96 | Government | Multiple | ₹1,000,000 | NA | NA |
The fact that certain IITs offering MBA programs are ranked higher than newer IIMs is quite interesting. NITIE Mumbai has a better desirability quotient than all New and Baby IIMs. Clearly, Baby IIMs at the bottom of the pile tells you that they haven't made a very good first impression and the stories trickling in from across the New IIM campuses don't sound very promising.
We now look at the list Geographical Zone wise.
Rankings - East India
| B-School Name | Mean Score | Type | Zone | Fees | Gender Diversity | Batch Size |
| IIM Calcutta | 90.54 | Government | East | ₹1,900,000 | 31.30% | 460 |
| XLRI Jamshedpur | 85.98 | Private/Trust | East | ₹2,000,000 | 27.47% | 364 |
| IIM Shillong | 64.52 | Government | East | ₹800,000 | 12.36% | 178 |
| IIFT Kolkata | 57.17 | Government | East | ₹16,25,000 | NA | NA |
| IIM Ranchi | 56.8 | Government | East | NA | 35.63% | 247 |
| IIM Raipur | 54.15 | Government | East | ₹1,232,200 | NA | NA |
| VGSoM IIT Kharagpur | 51.94 | Government | East | ₹731,330 | NA | NA |
| XIM Bhubaneshwar | 48.91 | Private/Trust | East | ₹1,540,000 | NA | NA |
Rankings - North India
| FMS Delhi | 87.15 | Government | North | ₹20,960 | 18.89% | 217 |
| IIM Lucknow | 83.44 | Government | North | ₹1,406,000 | 30.09% | 462 |
| IIFT Delhi | 74.9 | Government | North | ₹1,570,000 | 32.34% | 167 |
| MDI Gurgaon | 70.24 | Private/Trust | North | ₹1,886,000 | NA | NA |
| DoMS IIT Delhi | 56.55 | Government | North | NA | NA | NA |
| IIM Rohtak | 56.03 | Government | North | ₹1,050,000 | 9.54% | 262 |
| IIM Udaipur | 55.55 | Government | North | ₹1,072,700 | 23.61% | 233 |
| IIM Kashipur | 51.99 | Government | North | ₹6,29,210 | NA | NA |
| IMT Ghaziabad | 48.17 | Private/Trust | North | ₹1,650,000 | 33.33% | 543 |
| IMI Delhi | 39.95 | Private/Trust | North | 1,541,000 | NA | NA |
| SOIL Gurgaon | 30.81 | Private/Trust | North | 1,463,817 | NA | NA |
Rankings - South India
| IIM Bangalore | 89.74 | Government | South | ₹1,870,000 | 28.15% | 405 |
| ISB Hyderabad | 78.3 | Private/Trust | South | ₹3,027,475 | NA | NA |
| IIM Kozhikode | 77.87 | Government | South | ₹1,600,000 | 28.88% | 374 |
| IIM Trichy | 55.64 | Government | South | ₹13,20,000 | 13.41% | 179 |
| DoMS IIT Madras | 50.06 | Government | South | ~3,00,000 | NA | NA |
| Great Lakes Institute of Management | 40.48 | Private/Trust | South | ₹1,046,000 | NA | NA |
| TAPMI Manipal | 39.62 | Private/Trust | South | ₹1,400,000 | NA | NA |
| IFMR Chennai | 34.66 | Private/Trust | South | ₹1,200,000 | NA | NA |
Rankings - West India
| IIM Ahmedabad | 93.33 | Government | West | ₹1,878,000 | 30.39% | 441 |
| IIM Indore | 75.42 | Government | West | ₹1,300,000 | 39.45% | 545 |
| SPJIMR Mumbai | 73.99 | Private/Trust | West | ₹1,460,000 | 41.32% | 242 |
| JBIMS Mumbai | 73.76 | Private/Trust | West | ₹210,000 | 12.23% | 139 |
| NITIE Mumbai | 62.68 | Government | West | ₹626,500 | NA | NA |
| SJMSoM IIT Bombay | 60.52 | Government | West | ₹899,504 | 46.02% | 113 |
| TISS Mumbai | 57.86 | Private/Trust | West | ₹238,600 | 32.84% | 67 |
| NMIMS Mumbai | 57.81 | Private/Trust | West | ₹1,800,000 | 32.57% | 697 |
| SIBM Pune | 56.22 | Private/Trust | West | ₹1,825,000 | NA | NA |
| MICA Ahmedabad | 51.83 | Private/Trust | West | ₹1,350,000 | 46.67% | 180 |
| SCMHRD Pune | 49.02 | Private/Trust | West | ₹1,545,000 | 41.41% | 227 |
| K.J.Somaiya | 43.92 | Private/Trust | West | ₹800,000 | 41.11% | 360 |
| SDA Bocconi Asia Center | 35.47 | Private/Trust | West | ₹2,050,000 | 38.10% | 84 |
| Welingkar Mumbai | 34.2 | Private/Trust | West | ₹8,60,000 | NA | NA |
Please Note: This desirability quotient is based on the perception of InsideIIM users and what they think of these b-schools.
P.S: XLRI Jamshedpur, IFMR Chennai, SDA Bocconi Asia Center, MICA Ahmedabad, SPJIMR Mumbai are Business School Partners At InsideIIM.
Comments
Vaibhav Kabdwal
Vaibhav Kabdwal is an MBA candidate at the Indian Institute of Management Kashipur, Class of 2020 with major in Finance and Operations. He has also cleared CFA Level 1. He is passionate about stock trading, astronomy and Indian history.
Why there is no mention of IRMA in the list ?
20 Feb 2018, 12.23 AM
+Read Replies (1)
Ajay Kumar
I am a post graduate in rural management from IRMA, Anand from PRM 12 apart from BA (honors) in Political Science. I have worked with government organisations, MPCDF, Bhopal, Bhopal Milk Union and NDDB, Anand. I have been placed at Patna also apart from Anand. During last sixteen years, I have been associated with twelve NGOs and Civil Society organisations directly and with several others indirectly. I have worked in various development areas in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. My accomplishments can not be adjudged by financial returns to me or newspaper based recognition but will and motivation to perform and excel with whatever little learning and knowledge I have.
The list is of B-schools and not R-schools, question, however can be raised for inclusion of TISS
14 Nov 2018, 10.22 AM |
james bond
How come JBIMS is private?
13 Apr 2018, 03.35 PM
Harshwardhan Tewari
how come IMT is ranked after XIMB, IIT Madras and MICA? IMT is one of the oldest B Schools and top 300 get amazing placements.
27 Apr 2018, 11.50 AM
Rahul Saini
Useless report - I doubt your kind of desirability report has any use in today's world - I wonder what your stealth mode process was- who were your strength candidates - I can make a survey tomorrow and come up with an entirely different result. Stop copying what pagalguy did years ago and failed already. A sample of candidates who use your website are bound to be influenced by what narrative you try to protray and when they end up voting they mirror the same narrative they see on your website. Learn proper sampling techniques from the textbooks you had in your Bschool and then attempt anything like this even if you still wish to. I am sure no one is anyways taking this seriously out of the meager few who even visit your website.
6 Jun 2018, 05.34 AM
Farhan Karin
Cool as cucumber who takes things easy and doesn't get irked by petty things. Nadir point of my life was attempting the dilr this cat2017.
Soil ? R u even serious ?
6 Jun 2018, 11.45 AM
Ravi Mishra
What about LPU? Can anyone please tell me about the MBA in International Business from LPU?
9 Oct 2018, 01.08 PM
Abhinav Srivastav
There is no mention of simsree but it's a very good college considering its placements and low fee.
10 Oct 2018, 04.22 PM
Gaurav Kumar
I don't think sjmsom should be ranked lower than iim shillong. Anyways, you should try getting this data after result of cat exam. There are usually many students who don't decide seriously which college to join before cat result. So, they will research after cat exam and then your ranking might change.
10 Nov 2018, 05.56 AM
+Read Replies (1)
Gaurav Kumar
Ignore above comment, I got notification right now and hence thought that the article was recent. Wondering what is the benefit to end user in recommending months ago article. Also, request you to have a feature of deleting comment.
10 Nov 2018, 05.59 AM |
Ankita Vashista
It's ISB, ISB Hyd or Mohali are no different. ISB strictly follows one school 2 campus policy . Please refrain from using campus names at public platforms as it somewhere creates a wrong notion that hyd is better and Mohali is a comprise. Anyone interested in knowing more can reach out to me.
22 Jun 2019, 12.51 PM
+Read Replies (2)
Ankita Vashista
Compromise*
22 Jun 2019, 12.52 PM |
Prateek Pawar
It might be true but I guess it's obvious. So if someone looks up for ISB Mohali, IIFT Kolkata, GLIM Gurgaon, MDI Murshidabad etc. then every other source ends up considering them as a sister institute/extension centres.
11 Aug 2019, 11.54 PM |