Shruti
Shruti Garg
Assistant Manager- Editorial
Updated on Jun 15, 2026 16:47 IST
We collated the data to find out the lowest audited salaries at the top business schools and MBA colleges. Know the top IIMs and B-Schools which offer the lowest salaries. Know the average package and name of the institutes here. Read more on Shiksha

Check out the lowest salaries offered at IIMs and other top B-schools during the final placement process.

Candidates aspire to pursue MBA from top institutes like IIMs and other B-schools by focusing only on the highest package offered by these institutes. However, understanding the lowest packages offered by IIMs and other B-schools is equally important to make informed decision. Lowest packages offered at IIMs generally range between INR 6 LPA to INR 12 LPA. While the tier-2 and tier-3 colleges lowest package may drop between INR 3 lakh to INR 5 lakh. The lowest package in IIMs and other B-schools varies depending upon specialisation, industry demand and institute reputation. While top IIMs like Bangalore, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Calcutta, and Indore report high packages, the minimum salary offered may range significantly. In this article, know the lowest packages offered at top IIMs and other reputed B-Schools in India, helping MBA aspirants gain a realistic view of placement outcomes.

Table of contents
  • Lowest Packages Offered by IIMs
  • Lowest Packages Offered by Other Top B-Schools
  • Lowest Salaries Offered by IIMs & Other B-Schools: Accountability
  • MBA Placement Reports

Lowest Packages Offered by IIMs

While Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) are widely known for their highest packages, candidates need to know the lowest packages offered by IIMs. The lowest salary by IIMs may vary from institute to institute. In the table below, know the lowest packages offered by different IIMs to make informed career decision.

Institute

Lowest Domestic CTC (Approx.)

IIM Ahmedabad

INR 17- INR 18 LPA

IIM Bangalore

INR 12 - INR 14 LPA

IIM Calcutta

INR 11 - INR 12 LPA

IIM Lucknow

INR 10 - INR 11 LPA

IIM Kozhikode

INR 10 - INR 11 LPA

IIM Indore

INR 9 - INR 11 LPA

IIM Trichy / Udaipur / Ranchi

INR 7 - INR 9 LPA

Newer IIMs (e.g., Sambalpur, Bodh Gaya, Sirmaur)

INR 6 - INR8 LPA

Q&A Icon
Commonly asked questions
Q:   What is the CAT exam cutoff required to get admission to IIM Bangalore?
A: 

The CAT cut offs for IIM Bangalore hovers between 97-100 percentile. The qualifying CAT cut off required for being eligible for IIM Bangalore's Written Ability test (What) and Personal Interview PI is 85 percentile for General category students, whereas for SC candidates, it is 70 percentile. For ST candidates, it is 65 percentile and for PwD candidates it is 60 percentile. Given below are the sectional and overall qualifying CAT cut offs for IIM Bangalore.

  • General category: 80 VARC 75 DILR 75 Quantitative Aptitude 85 (Overall)
  • NC-OBC category: 75 VARC 65 DILR 65 Quantitative Aptitude 75 (Overall)
  • EWS category: 70 VARC 65 DILR 65 Quantitative Aptitude 75 (Overall)
  • SC category: 65 VARC 60 DILR 60 Quantitative Aptitude 70 (Overall)
  • ST category: 55 VARC 55 DILR 55 Quantitative Aptitude 65 (Overall)
  • PwD category: 50 VARC 50 DILR 50 Quantitative Aptitude 60 (Overall)
Q:   How important is it to have a good academic profile for IIM admission through CAT?
A: 

Having a good academic profile for IIM admission is very critical. The top 6 IIMs lay a lot of emphasis on Class 10 and Class 12 score for selection of candidates for WAT-PI round. The academic profile is evaluated again at the time of preparation of final merit list. It has been seen in the past that some candidates despite having 99+ percentile, were not selected for PI round due to low score in Class 12.

The academic profile is assessed for academic as well as gender diversity. Which means a candidate who studied Arts in Class 12 may be selected for PI with lower marks than a candidate who studied Science in Class 12.

Candidates aiming for IIMs must know that while the importance of academic profile is very important for top IIMs, it is moderately important for rest of the IIMs. For, other top MBA colleges, overall profile matters more than academic score. So, if you do not have superlative scores in Class 10 and 12, build a good profile with work experience and extra curricular activities to increase your chances of selection.

Q:   What is the difference between qualifying CAT cut off and final CAT cut off?
A: 
Qualifying CAT cut off percentiles of an IIM is the minimum percentile (sectional as well as overall) required by candidates to be eligible for the Written Ability Test (What) and Personal Interview PI round. These are only eligibility score and not the score for selection. The final CAT cut off percentiles are the scores on the basis of which a candidate is actually selected for the What-PI round. The qualifying CAT cut offs are released publically before the CAT exam and result as a part of selection criteria for the MBA/PGP batch of that year. The qualifying cut offs for CAT are release category wise - General, NC/OBC. General-EWS, SC/ST, PwD. The qualifying cut offs percentiles of General category candidate is higher than then rest. The final CAT cut offs are not released publically. The cut offs are estimate on the basis of candidate's selection for What-PI. The final CAT cut offs for General category candidate is also higher than then rest.
Q:   Are CAT cut offs announced along with the CAT result?
A: 

CAT cutoffs are usually not announced with the CAT result. The CAT cutoffs are also not released to the public.

They are published after a few days of the result announcement when the IIMs and other colleges start their shortlisting process. The IIMs opens their shortlisting window based on the CAT cut-offs two to three days after the result announcement. The CAT percentile of candidates shortlisted for the Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD), and Personal Interview (PI) can be considered the cut-off for that IIM. For example, if a candidate with a CAT percentile of 99 belonging to the General category is selected for the WAT/GD-PI of IIM Calcutta, then the CAT cut-off for IIM Calcutta is 99 percentile. Only those candidates who make it to the WAT/GD-PI round of IIMs will get to know the cut-offs.

Lowest Packages Offered by Other Top B-Schools

Several other B-Schools like XLRI, FMS, SPJIMR, MDI Gurgaon are also known for their excellent placement opportunities. Students who are desireous of taking admission to other top B-schools must analyse the lowest packages offered by the institutes. The lowest package offered by other top B-schools will vary from institute to institute. Check the table below for complete details.

B-School

Lowest Package (Approx.)

XLRI Jamshedpur

INR 9-10 LPA

FMS Delhi

INR 9-11 LPA

SPJIMR Mumbai

INR 8-9 LPA

ISB Hyderabad

INR 10-11 LPA

MDI Gurgaon

INR 8-9 LPA

IIFT Delhi/Kolkata

INR 7-9 LPA

NMIMS Mumbai

INR 6-8 LPA

SIBM Pune / SCMHRD

INR 6-8 LPA

IMT Ghaziabad / TAPMI / KJ Somaiya

INR 5-7 LPA

PLEASE NOTE: The figures quoted above are not based on any audited reports and neither have they been conveyed by the institute/college. These are based on student accounts and cannot be verified independently.

Also Read:

International salary packages offered at top Indian B-schools

IIM Placements: Check Highest CTC, Average CTC and Top Companies

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Lowest Salaries Offered by IIMs & Other B-Schools: Accountability

It is interesting to note that most leading B-schools of the country do not publish audited reports of their final placement process for the benefit of aspiring students and common citizens. They only release the final placement reports to the media with quotes of highest, mean and median salary figures. The public accept these placement reports at their face value. There’s no accountability of the information published.

In other words, it’s practically impossible to find the official lowest packages offered at top business schools or get a complete scenario of placements.

Q&A Icon
Commonly asked questions
Q:   How many CAT mock tests to practice to score 99 percentile?
A: 
Experts recommend that aspirants must practice at least 40 CAT mock tests to score above 99 percentile well in the exam. Most of the CAT test takers take up to 50 mock tests of various types and difficulty level. CAT toppers in previous years have practiced even up to 80 mock tests during their preparation. However, candidates must decide the number of CAT mock tests depending on their control and confidence on topics as the exam day comes closer. Mock tests are the best way to judge your performance viz. The important topics of CAT. The more one practices CAT mock tests, the more accurate they get in solving questions from all subjects. It is very important to know which formula to apply to which type question to solve the problem accurately. Mock tests help candidates in this aspect which is why practicing mock tests is most important in CAT preparation.
Q:   Which MBA colleges are available with 70 percentile in CAT?
A: 
A good number of private MBA colleges accept CAT score of 70 percentile in CAT. We have listed some of the colleges in which admission is possible with 70 percentile. Amity University AIMS Institutes (AIMS), Bangalore Amrita School of Business - Bangalore Acharya Bangalore B-School Asian Business School (ABS), Noida Amrita School of Business, Kochi Bengal Institute of Business Studies (BIBS), Kolkata Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Christ Institute of Management, Pune Doon Business School (DBS), Dehradun Eastern Institute For Integrated Learning In Management, Kolkata FOSTIIMA Business School, Delhi International Institute of Business Studies, Noida International School of Business and Media (ISB&M) Bangalore JK Lakshmipat University-Institute of Management, Jaipur National University (JNU), Jaipur JRE Group of Institutions (JRE), Greater Noida Lotus Business School, Pune Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar MATS University, Raipur IIKM Business School, Calicut IILM Institute for Higher Education, Delhi For full list, click here: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/articles/colleges-accepting-cat-scores-range-70-to-80-percentile-blogId-11956.
Q:   Which MBA colleges are available with 80 percentile in CAT?
A: 
There are quite a few MBA colleges who accept CAT score of 80 percentile and above for admission. The admission process for these colleges include group discussion and Personal Interview . Fore School of Management Goa Institute of Management International Management Institute, Delhi Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal Indian Institute of Management, Visakhapatnam Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Chennai Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli Praxis Business School, Kolkata Prin. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management development & Research, Bangalore Shiva Institute of Management Studies, Ghaziabad Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research TA Pai Management Institute Trinity College for Management and Technology, Ghaziabad Click on this link for more: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/articles/colleges-accepting-cat-scores-range-80-to-90-percentile-blogId-11981.
Q:   Which MBA colleges are available with 60 percentile in CAT?
A: 
There are a number of private MBA colleges that accept CAT score of 60+ percentile for admission. We have listed some of the colleges below: AIMS Institutes (AIMS), Bangalore Amrita School of Business - Bangalore Acharya Bangalore B-School Asian Business School (ABS), Noida Amrita School of Business, Kochi Bengal Institute of Business Studies (BIBS), Kolkata Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Christ Institute of Management, Pune Doon Business School (DBS), Dehradun Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management, Kolkata FOSTIIMA Business School, Delhi International Institute of Business Studies, Noida International School of Business and Media (ISB&M) Bangalore International School of Business & Media, Kolkata IIKM Business School, Calicut IILM Institute for Higher Education, Delhi For full list, click here: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/articles/colleges-accepting-cat-scores-range-60-to-70-percentile-blogId-11984.

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About the Author
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Shruti Garg
Assistant Manager- Editorial

Shruti Garg is a graduate in English and Education with over 7 years of experience in content writing/editing and education journalism. At Shiksha.com, Shruti covers UG and PG entrance exams like MBA entrance exams,

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