Competition to secure a seat at IIM is high. IIMs follow a reservation criteria set as per the laws issued by Government of India. Read this article for a clear picture of OBC reserved seats in different IIM colleges.
OBC category seats at IIMs: India has a total of 21 IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management). These 21 IIMs account for 5500+ MBA seats. Out of these, 3400+ seats are left for the open category after the reservation for categories, like OBC, SC, ST, etc. CAT exam score helps shortlist candidates for admission to IIMs. Candidates with a valid category certificate to claim reservation may increase the chances of admission to IIMs. IIM reservation policy is set in accordance with the Government of India rules. Out of all seats at IIMs, 800+ seats belong to the OBC categories. Scroll down for details on OBC category seats at IIMs.
| Check Category Wise IIM Seats | ||
| Total IIM Seats for General Category | Total IIM Seats for General Category | Total IIM Seats for SC/ST Category |
IIM-Wise OBC Seats
Go through the list given below to have detailed information on the OBC seats in different IIM colleges:
| IIMs |
Seats for OBC candidates |
|---|---|
| 113 |
|
| 122 |
|
| 102 |
|
| 32 |
|
| 32 |
|
| 32 |
|
| 32 |
|
| 28 |
|
| 32 |
|
| 25 |
|
| 33 |
|
| 37* |
|
| 37* |
|
| 17* |
|
| 38* |
|
| 33* |
|
| 33* |
|
| Total |
1110 |
Asterisk (*) has been put on the number of seats to give a clear picture about colleges wherein number of seats can vary slightly.
IIM Ahmedabad is widely acclaimed for producing top business leaders and entrepreneurs, the Post Graduate Master’s Degree Program offered by the college has always been top priority for aspirants. Some of the alumni of IIM-A include Raghuram Rajan (Former RBI Governor), K.V Kamath (Chief of BRICS Bank), and Ajaypal Singh Banga (CEO of Mastercard), among many other eminent names. It has nearly 104 seats in PGP (now rechristened MBA) program reserved for OBC candidates.
Moving to our next IIM in the list, let’s talk about another top ranked one – IIM Bangalore. Located in one of the most beautiful cities of India, IIM Bangalore has always been among the favourite business schools for aspirants. The college has an outstanding placement record and has seen many business tycoons as its alumni.
Some of the alumni of IIM-B include K. Radhakrishnan (Former ISRO Chairman), Ravi Subramanian (Author of many bestsellers), and Nila Madhab Panda (Film Producer), among many others. It has 103 seats reserved for OBC candidates in the PGP (now called MBA) program, almost equal to its peer - IIM Ahmedabad.
Next in the list comes the IIM with the largest number of seats among all 20 campuses – IIM Calcutta. The college is placed among top 3 business schools, IIM ABC, in India. It has impeccable placement records. The institute has produced some of the best brains in business world.
Some of the alumni of IIM-C include Ajith Balakrishnan (Founder of Rediff), Indra Nooyi (Former CEO of Pepsi), and Amish Tripathi (Author of many bestsellers,) among many others. It has 125 seats reserved for OBC candidates in the flagship PGP (now renamed MBA) program.
Commonly asked questions
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.
On an average, about 10-15 CAT aspirants score 100 percentile. Given below is the data of CAT 100 percentilers of last 4 years:
Exam year | CAT 100 percentilers | State wise numbers |
|---|---|---|
CAT 2025 | 12 | 1- Uttar Pradesh 1- Karnataka 1- Maharashtra 3- Delhi 2- Haryana 2- Gujarat 1- Jharkhand 1- Odisha |
CAT 2024 | 14 | 1- Andhra Pradesh |
CAT 2023 | 14 | 1 – Andhra Pradesh |
CAT 2022 | 11 | 2 - Delhi 1 - Gujarat 1 - Haryana 1 - Kerala 1 - Madhya Pradesh 2 - Maharashtra 2 - Telangana 1 - Uttar Pradesh |
Total Seats at IIMs
The table below mentions total seats offered by all the IIMs:
| Name of IIM | Total number of Seats |
|---|---|
| IIM Ahmedabad (IIM A) | 385 |
| IIM Amritsar | 240 |
| IIM Bangalore (IIM B) | 565 |
| IIM Bodh Gaya (IIM BG) | 120 |
| IIM Calcutta (IIM C) | 462 |
| IIM Indore (IIM I) | 450+150 |
| IIM Jammu | 120 |
| IIM Kashipur | 210 |
| IIM Kozhikode | 525 |
| IIM Lucknow (IIM L) | 490 |
| IIM Mumbai | 550 |
| IIM Nagpur | 240 |
| IIM Raipur | 210 |
| IIM Ranchi | 210+150 |
| IIM Rohtak | 240+60 |
| IIM Sambalpur | 120 |
| IIM Shillong | 180 |
| IIM Sirmaur | 170 |
| IIM Tiruchirappalli | 210 |
| IIM Udaipur | 150 |
| IIM Vishakhapatnam (IIM Vizag) | 120 |
Hopefully, the list will be helpful for those OBC candidates who have been doing all sorts of research in order to have an idea of seat availability in different IIM colleges. For such IIM updates, stay tuned to Shiksha.
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Student Forum
Answered Yesterday
No the Sai University CAT exam is not compulsory for admission to BA courses. Students who have valid marks in other national level exams can also apply. The university considers exams such as CUET/ SAT India/ ACT, etc. Moreover, students can take admission based on merit also.
A
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
No the Sai University CAT exam is not compulsory for admission to BSc courses. Students who have valid marks in other national level exams can also apply. The university considers exams such as CUET/ SAT India/ ACT, etc.
A
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 3 days ago
Yes, students can take admissions to BITS Law School without appearing from CLAT exam. BITS Law School admissions also conducts its own entrance exam called BITS Law Admission Test. Shortlisted candidates need to appear for Personal Interview rounds for admissions.
P
Contributor-Level 9
Answered 4 days ago
VGIM Cutoff 2025 is not available yet. However, according to the VGIM MBA/PGDM cutoff 2024, the overall MAT percentile required for admission to PGDM course is 70 for the students belonging to the General AI category
I
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
No, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar has not mentioned that it accepts CAT score for MBA admissions on their portals. Candidates are instead required to appear for an in-house entrance exam that is conducted by GNDU itself.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Yes, IBSAT exam is comparatively easier than CAT in terms of syllabus difficulty level and competition. CAT question paper requires high anlaytical solving skills to score well in exam, whereas IBSAT exam assesses candidate's speed and accuracy. The difficulty level of IBSAT exam is moderate.
N
Contributor-Level 7
Answered a week ago
No, to gain admission to the MBA course at this institute, candidates have to appear for the CAT exam and then for the Group Discussion (GD) and/or Personal Interview (PI) rounds.
Students are only shortlisted for the GD and PI rounds based on their performance in the CAT exam. Students who clear bo
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Srinivas University - Bangalore Campus accepts national or state-level Management entrance exam scores for admission in MBA. Hence, aspirants can apply via CAT scores. They can also appear for SUAT conducted by the university for admission.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered a week ago
The registrations for the exam generally start from the month of August and continue till September. The admit cards are released by November. Exam is conducted usually by last week of November. Students can download their results by December.
B
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Yes, COEP, Pune does accept CAT score to admit candidates for MBA admissions. During CAP rounds, if candidates have a valid score in CAT, they will be chosen based on those scores only. Thus, such candidates are not required to reappear for MAH-CET.
S
Contributor-Level 10

Abhishek is a content writer and editor with 7+ years of experience in education journalism. He completed his graduation from University of Delhi with a BA Degree. At Shiksha.com, he handles content for MBA, BBA, an
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