The event marked the presence of students, faculty, alumni, and guests to record the beginning of a new and fruitful academic journey. The key highlight of the event included the presentation of the Distinguished Alumni Awards (DAA) 2025, among other academic recognitions, and scholarships.
The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore conducted a week-long orientation programme for the PGP & PGP-BA class of 2025-27 from June 9, 2025, to June 15, 2025. The event marked the presence of students, faculty, alumni, and guests to record the beginning of a new and fruitful academic journey. The key highlight of the event included the presentation of the Distinguished Alumni Awards (DAA) 2025, among other academic recognitions, and scholarships.
Distinguished Alumni Awards 2025
The 2025 Distinguished Alumni Awards (DAA) were conferred upon four distinguished alumni at the ceremony for their exceptional achievements across sectors and their unwavering commitment to values that define the IIMB community. Professor Sourav Mukherji, Dean, Alumni Relations and Development, introduced the DAA awardees and Ganeshan Ramachandran, Managing Director with Accenture’s Global Capability Network, presented the awards.
Dr. Sandhya Shekhar (PGP 1984), Advisor in Digital and Business Strategy and former CEO of IIT Madras Research Park, reflected on the challenges of upholding ethical values in the professional world and credited IIMB for instilling the courage to do so. She shared, “IIMB is where I discovered my inner strength—and that it’s cool to be ethical.”
Prashant Jain (PGP 1991), Founder of 3P Investment Managers and former CIO at HDFC Mutual Fund, shared how IIMB shaped his transition from engineering to finance and laid the foundation for a lifelong focus on learning and integrity. As he put it, “Learning is like a balance sheet of assets built over time, and the liabilities teach you.”
Mathew Cyriac (PGP 1994), Chairman at Florintree Advisors and Co-founder of Yali Capital, credited IIMB with transforming his self-doubt into confidence and providing the mentorship and friendships that propelled his career. He noted, “IIMB gave me confidence, mentorship, and friendships that became my life’s compass.”
Vineet Saraiwala (PGP 2015), Founder & CEO of Atypical Advantage, spoke movingly of how IIMB empowered him as a visually impaired student and inspired his mission to build an inclusive India. He shared, “IIMB gave me the platform and belief to solve some of the toughest social problems.”
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.
To get admission in IIM Bangalore, studnets are required to fulfil the admission criteria of the desired programme. have a bachelor's degree with a minimum of 50% or an equivalent CGPA (45% for candidates belonging to the SC/ST/PwD category). IIM Bangalore admission is completely entrance-based. Admission to the flagship course, i.e., the MBA of IIM Bangalore, is based on a valid score in the CAT exam, followed by a personal interview (PI) and written ability test (What) round. IIM Bangalore offers admission to Indian students via CAT and international students via GMAT/GRE. IIM Bangalore conducts the IIM-B tests for admission to Executive MBA (EPGP) and PhD courses.
Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIM Bangalore, reflected on the significance of the Distinguished Alumni Awards and the values embodied by the awardees. He spoke about the importance of perseverance, purpose, and the quiet dedication behind their achievements. The Director highlighted how their journeys exemplify the kind of impact IIMB hopes its students will strive for, grounded, responsible, and far-reaching.
Professor Mukta Kulkarni, Chairperson, Dean Programmes, encouraged students, “If you want to see yourself in the shoes of alumni, then focus on the multiple opportunities.”
Revanth Reddy, President, Students Affairs Council, PGP’26, welcomed the incoming cohort and reflected on his own journey at IIMB. Speaking about ‘Life at IIMB’, he encouraged both cohorts of over 1,200 students to strive for meaningful societal impact, drawing inspiration from the accomplishments of the four distinguished alumni.
Awards, Scholarships, and Achievements
The event also featured the announcement of the Director’s Merit List, Director’s Honours List, section toppers, and scholarship recipients. The Mirae Asset Foundation Scholar Award was also presented to recognize meritorious and deserving students at IIMB across the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP), the Post Graduate Programme in Business Analytics (PGPBA), and the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme. The students of PGP & PGPBA 2024-26, Gangineni Sandeep, Revat Mehra, Sampath Majeti, as well as Divya Dwivedi, Information Systems area and Sanchit Jain, Finance & Accounting area, were awarded the scholarship.
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Admission to EPGP course is based on GRE/ GMAT/ IIMB Test scores. Candidates are shortlisted for the WAT and PI round on the basis of their performance in the entrance exam, scholastic achievement and relevant work experience. An intensive one-year residential programme leading to an MBA, admission to this course is provided to students who qualify all the selection rounds. More highlights regarding IIM Bangalore E-MBA admission are as follows:
Particulars
Admission Highlights (2023)
Course duration
1-year
Seat intake*
75
Total fee*
INR 23 lakh
Eligibility criteria
- A graduation degree in any discipline with a minimum of 50% aggregate or equivalent CGPA (45% aggregate or equivalent for SC/ ST/ PwD).
- Those who have not undergone any UG degree but completed their CA/ ICWA/ CS after Class 12 are also eligible. The requirement of minimum percentage marks /CGPA remains the same as mentioned above.
- Minimum 5 years (and preferably less than 12 years) of work experience as of March 31 of the year of admission after completion of graduation
- A valid GMAT or GRE score
Selection criteria
Academic record, GMAT/GRE scores, quality of work experience, PI and WAT