Master of Business Administration (MBA) 

at IIM Calcutta, Joka

As per the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2024, both IIM Calcutta and IIM Ahmedabad ranked among the top 5 IIMs for their MBA course. However, IIM Ahmedabad tops the list, while IIM Calcutta ranked at fifth spot. Talking about IIM Calcutta placements 2024, it has recorded 100% placements for its flagship PGP (MBA) programme. 

The highest package offered during IIM Calcutta MBA placements 2024 stood at INR 1.2 crore per annum. Talking about IIM Ahmedabad placements in 2023, the average domestic package stood at INR 34.36 LPA. The highest package stood at INR 115 LPA. So, considering the rankings, IIM Ahmedabad shall be a better option in comparison to IIM Calcutta, but placements are good at IIM Kolkata.

For MBA at IIM Calcutta, aspirants need to complete CAT application process. To submit CAT application successfully, aspirants need to pay the required application fees. Mentioned below is the category-wise application fee for CAT exam:

IIM Calcutta MBA one-time fee amount is INR 20,000. This may include caution money, and other such components. Candidates have to pay this amount once only. It must be noted that the mentioned fee amount is as per the official website/ sanctioning body. It is still subject to revision and hence, is indicative.

To get admission in MBA at IIM Calcutta, candidates must qualify the CAT exam and attain the required percentile. The IIM Calcutta CAT Cutoff 2023 (Overall) for the General AI Category candidates was 99. Therefore, it was not possible for candidate having cutoff percentile of 90-95 to get MBA at IIM Calcutta. 

Among the OBC AI category candidates also, the Cutoff percentile to get MBA at IIM Calcutta was 99. Thus, there is a very rare of change of getting admission at IIM Calcutta at this score. 

IIM Calcutta MBA fee includes different components such as tuition fees, room rent charges (for the entire course duration), cost of course material, and economy airfare of study tours, organized by the institute. The fee is INR 27 lakh, including tuition fee and accommodation fees. Candidates have to pay some amount of this fee at the time of admission for seat confirmation as directed by the institute. Further, it must be noted that the fee mentioned here is taken from the official website/ sanctioning body. It is subject to changes and hence, is indicative.

MBA is the flagship programme of IIM Calcutta. As one of the popular IIMs of India, IIM Calcutta is a preferred college for MBA aspirants. Talking about placements,  the institute recorded 100% placements for its MBA batch 2025. The highest international and domestic packages offered during IIM Calcutta placements 2025 stood at INR 145 LPA and INR 91.45 LPA, respectively. 

The answer to this question of whether an average student can get into IIM can be both yes and no depending on the definition of an average student.

• Based on Academics (Class 10/ Class 12/ Graduation): While a student with average scores in Class 10, Class 12 and graduation with a good CAT score certainly has good chances of getting a call from IIM-A, chances are less for someone with an average CAT score.
• Based on student category (General or Reserved): While it is tough for a General category average student to grab a seat at IIM due to high score requirements, a reserved category student can get admission being at average scores as well.
• Based on past work experience, diversity and other factors: Gender and academic diversity is also a factor on which students are shortlisted at IIM. IIMs judge the past academic category based on the degree obtained by the students before MBA and then a weightage is allotted based on that. For Engineers, the percentage for scoring the highest marks is higher as compared with other streams
• Performance in selection rounds: Once you make it to the final selection rounds, i.e., AWT/PI process, it can be considered a fresh start. At this stage, students can forget their past average-ness but definitely require good grasp over the past subjects as academics-related questions are asked in the interview.

Based on the above factors, it can be considered that while getting into top Management institutes, such as IIM is extremely tough, the past performance, CAT performance, student category and a lot of factors can be the reasons for a student to receive that final call.