Best Colleges accepting CAT Score in Maharashtra

CAT score is valid for one year at the IIMs and top B-Schools. In some tier 3 and government institutions, CAT score of previous two years are also acceptable. Many B-schools including IIMs have an option of deferment of admission, wherein you can confirm your admission and pay the nominal fee but join the batch in the next year. It is advised that candidates take admission in the same year as their CAT attempt so that they don't have to reappear next year. Given the competition in MBA space, it is difficult to get a good college whether you have a low score or average score. So, incase one is getting a good college, they should take admission and not drop a year to appear for CAT again.

Yes CAT syllabus is difficult to crack if you do not have enough time. There are three subjects in CAT- VARC, DILR and Quantitative Aptitude. Most of candidates find RC passages tough to crack. In Quants, Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry pose significant challenge during preparation. In DILR, Reasoning questions often turnout to be tricky and confusion. 

Yes, you can apply for CAT. The main criteria of eligibility for CAT is graduation from a recognised university. So, whether the education mode is full-time or correspondence, if the university is recognised by the UGC, the candidates will be eligible to appear for the CAT exam.

CAT 2026 exam will be held on November 29, 2026. Official announcement of the exam and registration schedule will be announced in the last week of July 2026.

IIM Mumbai offers various courses, namely Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Engineering (PGDIE), Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Management (PGDIM) and Post Graduate Diploma in Sustainability Management (PGDSM), Post-Graduate Program for Executives for Visionary Leadership for Manufacturing (PGPEX-VLFM) and Fellow programme. Apart from this, the institute also offers certificate and global certificate programmes to its students.

If you have a very good CAT score but poor academic record it is quite likely that you may not be shortlisted for top IIMs as the institutes prefer candidates with overall consistency in academics. Class 12 scores holds a lot of importance in shortlisting of candidates for WAT-PI.

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 2- Delhi 1- Haryana 1-Kerala 5- Maharashtra 1- Odisha 1- Rajasthan 2- Telangana
CAT 2023	14	1 – Andhra Pradesh 1 - Delhi 1 – Gujarat 1 – Jammu & Kashmir 1 - Karnataka 1 - Kerala 4 – Maharashtra 1 – Tamil Nadu 2 - Telangana 1 - Uttar Pradesh
CAT 2022	11	2 - Delhi 1 - Gujarat 1 - Haryana 1 - Kerala 1 - Madhya Pradesh 2 - Maharashtra 2 - Telangana 1 - Uttar Pradesh

 

The table below shows the best government colleges accepting CAT scores in India along with their total tuition fees:

Public/Government Colleges	Total Tuition Fee
IIM Ahmedabad Admission	INR 25 lakh
IIM Bangalore Admission	INR 25 lakh
IIM Indore Admission	INR 17 Lacs - INR 20 lakh
IIM Kozhikode Admission	INR 18 Lacs – INR 21 lakh
IIM Lucknow Admission	INR 13 lakh

 

College Names	Annual Average Package	Top Recruiters
IIM Ahmedabad Placement	INR 20 LPA - INR 32 LPA	Tata Steel, NPCI, Jio Financial Services, Axis Bank, etc.
IIM Bangalore Placement	INR 33 LPA	Accenture, EY, American Express, Infosys, Oliver, etc.
IIM Indore Placement	INR 22 LPA - INR 27 LPA	Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte India, EY, Infosys Consulting, KPMG, etc.
IIM Kozhikode Placement	INR 25 LPA – INR 27 LPA	Accenture, Amazon, Microsoft, Deloitte, TCS, HCL, Cognizant, etc.
IIM Lucknow Placement	INR 30 LPA	Adobe, TCS, Infosys, ITC Limited, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, etc.

The placement rate recorded during SJMSOM IIT Bombay MBA placements 2023 was 100%. Students get a good salary package after completing MBA from a reputed institute like SJMSOM. The highest package and average package offered during SJMSOM IIT Bombay MBA placements 2023 stood at INR 54 LPA and INR 28.88 LPA, respectively. The top recruiters of SJMSOM IIT Bombay in 2023 included leading companies such as GEP, HUL, Google, Accenture, Cargill, etc. 

COEP Pune MBA placement report 2023 is not released. However, the key highlights of COEP Pune PG (including MBA course) placements 2023 are presented below:

Particulars	PG Placement Statistics (2023)
the highest package	INR 37.49 LPA
Average package	INR 7.82 LPA
the lowest package	INR 4 LPA
Placement rate	52.4%
Students enrolled	250
Students placed	131

The trends witnessed during COEP Pune PG placements over the past three years with respect to the salary packages offered and placement rate recorded are presented below:

Particulars	PG Placement Statistics (2021)	PG Placement Statistics (2022)	PG Placement Statistics (2023)
the highest package	INR 24.85 LPA	INR 25.25 LPA	INR 37.49 LPA
Average package	INR 6.26 LPA	INR 6.96 LPA	INR 7.82 LPA
the lowest package	INR 3 LPA	INR 3 LPA	INR 4 LPA
Placement rate	47.87%	74.88%	52.4%
Students enrolled	376	410	250
Students placed	180	307	131

The fee for the MBA IB programme at BAMU Aurangabad is INR 20,482.

As per the details available on the official website and the latest admission brochure, MBA admissions at KJ Somaiya Institute of Management (KJSIM) are completely based on the merit of students in their UG degree along with their performance in the national/ state/ university-level entrance exam. Similar is the case for MCA and PhD admission, students who meet the eligibility criteria of having completed their UG and PG degrees, respectively, with a valid score in national/ state/ university-level entrance exams can secure admission. However, students are advised to reach out to the admission office to confirm the same.

The NMU MAH MBA CET cutoff 2025 was released for admisson to the MBA/MMS programme for students belonging to the different categories under both the All India and Home State quota. The cutoff was published in the form of opening and closing percentiles.

For the General AI category, the last round cutoff percentiles ranged between 1.79 and 79.8. Among all the colleges offering the MBA course, the hardest one for admission was GHRCEM, with a cutoff of 79.8 in the last round. 

Note: Other categories, quotas, rounds, etc., will have different cutoffs.

No, CAT is not compulsory for MBA at Balaji Institute of Modern Management. The institute offers admission to its MBA courses via many entrance tests, and not just CAT. Check below to know all the accepted entrance exams:

• CAT
• MAT
• XAT
• CMAT
• MAH CET
• Sri Balaji Entrance and Screening Test

At PIBM Pune, students can pursue both MBA & PGDM courses. Interested students can take admission to the course of their choice by fulfilling the basic eligibility criteria along with applying on the official website of PIBM Pune. Find below the course-wise seat bifurcation of Management courses offered at PIBM Pune:

Course Name	Seat Intake
MBA (General)	360
PGDM	480
MBA (FinTech)	60
MBA (Project Management)	60
Global Joint Degree Program (PGDM Global)	60 (Partner University)
PGDM Hybrid	60

Candidates can refer to the following table for a comparison between both the institutes based on fee and ranking:

Given below is the comparison between IMT lcated in Nagpur and Hyderabad for their MBA/ PGDM courses on the basis of parameters including, NIRF ranking under the Management category and tuition fee:

Institute Name	NIRF Ranking '23	Tuition Fees	Average Package
IMT Nagpur	101-1012	INR 13.8 lakh	INR 10.81 LPA
IMT Hyderabad	84	INR 13.8 lakh	INR 12 LPA

NOTE: The above-mentioned fees are taken from an unofficial source. Hence, are indicative.

The NIBM Pune PGDM offers emerging electives such as Big Data & Machine Learning in Banking, Cyber Security, Credit Scorecard Development with Python, and Digital Banking. These electives help students gain industry-relevant specialised skills.

ITM Navi Mumbai is a part of the ITM Group of Institutions and was established in 1991. ITM Business School offers the AIU and UGC-approved MBA programmes from ITM Skills University. To get admission to this approved college, candidates must have valid scores in entrance tests such as  MAT, XAT, CAT, NMAT, CMAT, ATMA, and others. If applying through CAT, candidates must prepare according to the CAT syllabus and must give as many mock tests as possible. 

Vivekanand Business School (VBS) and SIES College of Management Studies both are renowned universities for MBA/PGDM. However, in terms of affordability, Vivekanand Business School (VBS) is a better option since the total tuition fee for Vivekanand Business School (VBS) is INR 880,000 and the total tuition fee for MBA/PGDM at SIES College of Management Studies is INR 700,000 - INR 900,000. In the total fees that students generally end up paying the university or the college, various other components are also included, such as the exam fee, application fee, lab and other charges.

As per the latest report, ISBM Pune recorded an average package of INR 11.40 LPA for its PGDM batch in the academic year 2023-2024. The key highlights of ISBM Pune placements for the MBA Class of 2024 are tabulated below:

Particulars	PGDM Placement Statistics (2024)
Average package	INR 11.40 LPA
the highest package	INR 20.56 LPA
Package offered by the top 50% of companies	INR 10 LPA to INR 12 LPA
Package offered by the top 15% of companies	INR 8 LPA to INR 10 LPA
Package offered by top 5% of companies	INR 20 LPA and above
Package offered by top 11% of companies	INR 15 LPA to INR 20 LPA
Package offered by top 19% of companies	INR 12 LPA to INR 15 LPA
Popular recruiters	Warner Music Group, Optum, Fashion TV, Trident Group India

The total seat intake for N. L. Dalmia PGDM is 420. Candidates are offered seat in the PGDM programme based on their entrance exam scores. Check below N. L. Dalmia PGDM specialisation-wise seat intake:

N. L. Dalmia PGDM Specialisation	PGDM Seat Intake
General	240
Finance	120
Analytics	60

 

VAMNICOM  provides a 100% placement rate to its students from the very beginning. For more information on placement packages and recruiters for the VAMNICOM placements, refer to the table below:

To get admission to BIMHRD Pune MBA course, candidates have to fulfil the minimum eligibility criteria. Those who passed graduation with minimum 50% aggregate are eligible to apply for the course. Futher, the institute accepts various state/ national-level entrance exams such as CAT/ MAT/ CMAT/ XAT/ MH CET. Candidates need to qualify for any one of the entrance exam with a valid score. The final selection is done through Group Discussion and Personal Interview round conducted at the institute.

Other than this, students can also appear for Sri Balaji Entrance Screening Test (SBEST) to get exempted from the other entrance exams or to improve the scores of the above-mentioned exams. Students have to pay an additional charge of INR 490 for the exam registration.