Six new IIMs to start functioning this year

The union cabinet today approved the setting up of six new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in the country.

The new IIMs will be located at Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Bodh Gaya (Bihar), Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Sambalpur (Odisha) and Amritsar (Punjab).

These six new IIMs will commence their first academic session from 2015-16. These will begin functioning from their assigned temporary campuses and shift to their permanent sites after construction of the respective campuses.

Each institute will start with an intake of 140 students in the post-graduate programme (PGP) courses. It is expected that the annual intake will increase to reach a level of 560 students each year by the end of seven years.

The PGP in management would be the flagship programme of these institutions. Admission to the PGP will be through the open and competitive Common Admission Test (CAT) being conducted by the IIMs.

The institutes would train young graduates to undertake management responsibilities and carry out research and consultancy in the field of management and allied areas. These programmes will cater to leadership building in diverse fields of endeavour and enterprise.

The finance minister, in his budget speech in July 2014, had made a commitment to establish five new IIMs in Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Punjab.

In addition, the reorganisation of the state of Andhra Pradesh into the two states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has necessitated the setting up of an IIM in Andhra Pradesh, consequent to and in pursuance of the Andhra Pradesh Re-organization Act, 2014.