Jayein toh Jayein kahaan 2023: Top MBA Colleges

A student seeking my advice on which Top MBA Colleges should he join said “Sir, if I were your nephew then after considering all factors which out of these three institutes would you recommend?”

There is always a dilemma when it comes to choosing an MBA institute because a wrong choice of institute could very easily lead to poor career growth or waste of money or both. Unfortunately, most rankings do not consider the student’s point of view and have a low weight for one of the most important criteria – the placements.

To my mind, the most important measure of the worth of a B School is its placement record and hence my preference for an institute is determined primarily by the placements. Placements refer to not only the average/median salary but also include the difficult-to-quantify factors like the reputation, quality of opportunities and the kind of companies that visit the institute. Secondly, with most of the good institutes charging a fee of over Rs 15 lakh for the MBA program, the cost of doing an MBA is a factor that cannot be ignored.

Between similarly placed MBA institutes, the location becomes the tiebreaker as location plays an important role in determining placements. Going forward, with WFH and virtual offices the importance of location will reduce but at present, it is an important parameter, especially for Cluster 5 and 6 institutes. I also believe that all programs in an institute are not at the same level and hence I have a program-wise order of preference and not an institute-wise one.

So dear nephews/nieces, my order of preference of over 120 Top MBA Colleges is given in the table below. Please note that this should not be misunderstood as a ranking of MBA institutes/programs.

The institutes/programs of different levels are placed in different clusters (Clusters 1 – 6) and within a cluster, they are further segregated into three sub-clusters (A, B and C). Cluster 1 has the most preferred institutes and Cluster 6 has (relatively) the less preferred institutes as compared to the first five clusters. Similarly, within each cluster subcluster A is the most preferred and C is less preferred than subcluster A or B.

The reason why subclusters have been introduced is that when 2 or more institutes are very close to each other, the choice of the institute has to be on parameters that are individual specific. For example a campus might be important for some students while fees might be important for some other students.

Finally, do not rely only on this table, do check the other sources (especially current and past students) as well and take an informed decision by looking at all factors that are important to you. This table has around 150 institutes/programs and there are many good programs (if not institutes) that I would have missed out on due to a lack of awareness.

It is worth noting that Institutes in the first few clusters have been ranked based on a few more parameters.

Cluster 1:

Undoubtedly, like every year IIM Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Calcutta acquire the top three positions in the best B-schools’ preference list. With an excellent placement record, great reputation and endless opportunities these institutes stand as crème de la crème institutes.

FMS Delhi, IIM Lucknow and XLRI are all equally good and one can choose any of these based on one’s specific requirements. If you are a candidate with over 3 years work experience then you should be looking at ISB Hyderabad which offers a one-year course and accepts GMAT scores for admission.

FMS DU, TISS and JBIMS stand out in terms of excellent “value for money” institutes due to their very low fee and excellent placements however the 85% reservation for Maharashtra pushes JBIMS lower in my order of preference.

TISS is a little lower on the list but that’s mostly because it is a specialized program. A general management program is generally preferred (over specialized programs) as it allows you to choose your area of specialization after studying all subjects in the first year. However, if you are interested in a particular stream (in this case HR) then it would rank higher for you. For e.g. if you are looking for a specialization in HR then XLRI and TISS would be your preferences.

No. Sub-Cluster Institute City Program Average Package (LPA)
1 1A Indian Institute of Management (IIM-A) Ahmedabad PGP 33.83
2 1A Indian Institute of Management (IIM-B) Bengaluru PGP 33.82
3 1A Indian Institute of Management (IIM-C) Kolkata PGDM 34.20
4 1B Indian Institute of Management (IIM-L) Lucknow PGPM 31.03
5 1B Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) – DU New Delhi MBA 32.40
6 1B Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad PGP 34.08
7 1B Xavier Labour Research Institute (XLRI) Jamshedpur HRM –
8 1B Xavier Labour Research Institute (XLRI) Jamshedpur BM 30.73
9 1B Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai MA HRM LR 25.40
10 1B Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS) Mumbai MMS 27.63
11 1C SP Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR) Mumbai PGDM 32.05
12 1C Indian Institute of Management (IIM-K) Kozhikode PGP 29.5
13 1C Indian Institute of Management (IIM-I) Indore PGPM 25.10
14 1C Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurgaon PGPM 26.65
15 1C Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) New Delhi MBA 25.16
16 1C Xavier Labour Research Institute (XLRI) NCR MBA 27.58

 

Cluster 2:

Many other IIMs and non-IIM colleges are part of cluster 2. This cluster shows that some non-IIMs make their mark as better B-schools than most of the IIM colleges in terms of growth, learning and placements. IIFT Kolkata and IIM-L (ABM) are listed in cluster 2A above many other older and more established institutes because they have common placement processes.

Three well-known technical institutes (IIT Bombay/Delhi and NITIE) make their presence felt in this cluster, all three are well-known MBAs in Operations/Systems/Analytics.

The IB programs of MDI Gurgaon are in this cluster and not in Cluster 1 due to cost considerations.

IIM Ranchi is seen to be gearing up as the HRM program IIM Ranchi has been appreciated by the industry. IIM Udaipur and Trichy have done exceedingly well in the last couple of years in building their reputation as a good B-school among the new IIMs, also these three institutes are now comparable to NMIMS Mumbai and SIBM Pune. While NMIMS Mumbai could be preferred for Finance, SIBM Pune could be looked up for Marketing and HR.

No. Sub-Cluster Institute City Program Average Package (LPA)
1 2A Indian Institute of Management (IIM-L) Lucknow PGP ABM –
2 2A Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Kolkata MBA –
3 2A Indian Institute of Technology Bombay- SJSOM Mumbai M. Management 28.88
4 2A National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) Mumbai PGDIM 25.4
5 2A Indian Institute of Management (IIM-S) Shillong PGPM 23.1
6 2B Indian Institute of Management (IIM-A) Ahmedabad PGP FABM –
7 2B Indian Institute of Technology Delhi- DMS New Delhi MBA 21.59
8 2B Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurgaon PGDM HRM 23.8
9 2B Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurgaon PGPM IM –
10 2C National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) Mumbai PGDISEM –
11 2C Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) Pune MBA 23.06
12 2C Indian Institute of Management (IIM-Ranchi) Ranchi PGDM 16.17
13 2C Indian Institute of Management (IIM-Trichy) Tiruchirapalli PGPM 17.01
14 2C Indian Institute of Management (IIM-U) Udaipur PGP 17.81
15 2C Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) Mumbai Core 23.07

 

Cluster 3:

B-schools such as MICA and IRMA that offer specialized programs find their spot in this cluster. It must be understood that in their specialization, these two B-schools are the among best in the country. For example, MICA is regarded as one of the topmost B-schools in the country for its Marketing and Advertising program.

Two old established good institutes in this cluster are XIMB and IMT Ghaziabad, both provide excellent placement opportunities.

For candidates with over 2 years of work experience, Great Lakes Chennai offers a 1-year program (PGPM) that can be considered over others despite a lack of AICTE recognition as it has excellent placements due to industry recognition.

In this cluster, the IITs can be preferred over the others due to their low fee and good placements especially if you are interested in specializing in operations/systems/analytics.

No. Sub-Cluster Institute City Program Average Package (LPA)
1 3A Symbiosis Centre for Management and HRD (SCMHRD) Pune MBA 20.4
2 3A Indian Institute of Management (IIM Raipur) Raipur PGP 17.73
3 3A Indian Institute of Management (IIM Kashipur) Kashipur PGP 15.21
4 3A Indian Institute of Management (IIM Rohtak) Rohtak PGP 16.06
5 3B Institute of Technology Kharagpur – VGSOM Kharagpur MBA 19.36
6 3B Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA) Ahmedabad PGDM-C 19
7 3B Xavier Institute of Management (XIMB) Bhubaneswar MBA BM 17.54
8 3B Xavier Labour Research Institute (XLRI) Jamshedpur Global MBA –
9 3C Indian Institute of Management (IIM Ranchi) Ranchi PGDHRM 16.17
10 3C Institute of Management Technology (IMT) Ghaziabad PGDM 15.28
11 3C International Management Institute (IMI) New Delhi PGDM 15.28
12 3C Institute of Rural Management (IRMA) Anand PGPRM 14.33
13 3C Sydenham Institute of Management Studies (SIMSREE) Mumbai PGDBM 13.33
14 3C Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM) Chennai PGPM – 1 year 12.5
15 3C Indian Institute of Technology Madras – DMS Chennai MBA 16.66

 

Cluster 4:

Highlights of this cluster are the old established institutes (TAPMI, GIM, KJ Somaiya, BIM Trichy etc) which are well known regionally and the latest IIMs like Vizag, Nagpur and others.

This cluster also has specialized programs of some of the top MBA institutes (PGDISEM of NITIE, MSc Finance of JBIMS, HR programs of NMIMS, etc.) and the value-for-money MBA programs of Delhi University (MHROD, MBE).

No. Sub- Cluster Institute City Program Avg. Package (LPA)
1 4A T A Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) Manipal PGDM 12.5
2 4A Indian Institute of Management (IIM-V) Vishakhapatnam PGP 15.06
3 4A Indian Institute of Management (IIM-N) Nagpur PGP 15.21
4 4A Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies Mumbai MSc Finance 27.63
5 4A National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) Mumbai PGDISEM –
6 4A Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru M.Mmgt (Tech Mgmt& Biz) –
7 4A Indian Institute of Management (IIM-Amritsar) Amritsar PGP 14.63
8 4A Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur – DMS Kanpur MBA 16.61
9 4A Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) Mumbai MBA HR 19.4
10 4A Master of Finance & Control (MFC), DU Delhi MBA Fin –
11 4B Master of HR and Organisational Development, DSE, Delhi Univ. Delhi MHROD 13.94
12 4B Indian Institute of Management (IIM-Bodh Gaya) Bodh Gaya PGP 12.36
13 4B Indian Institute of Management (IIM-J) Jammu PGP 13.53
14 4B Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee – DMS Roorkee MBA 16.80
15 4B Goa Institute of Management (GIM) Goa PGDM 12.14
16 4B Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB) Pune MBA IB 11.32
17 4B K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research (SIMSR) Mumbai PGDM, IB, FM, Retail 12.28
18 4B Bharathidasan Institute of Management (BIM) Tiruchirapally MBA 10.46
19 4B BITS Pilani, Department of Management Pilani MBA 11.68
20 4B Indian Institute of Management (IIM-S) Sirmaur PGP 12.74
21 4C Indian Institute of Management (IIM-L) Lucknow (Noida) SM –
22 4C Indian Institute of Management (IIM-Sambalpur) Sambalpur PGP 12.64
23 4C Department of Business Economics, Delhi University Delhi MBE 11.97
24 4C Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) Chennai PGDM 11
25 4C FORE School of Management New Delhi PGDM, IB 14.04

 

Cluster 5 and 6:

If you have not made it to any institute up to Cluster 4 and CAT/XAT retake is not an option or you think that in a retake you will not be able to improve your score significantly then it is the Cluster 5 and 6 institutes that you are looking at. The institutes included in these two clusters provide good education and decent career opportunities, obviously, the role profiles and salary levels will be lower than what would be available in a higher cluster institute.

For these colleges location is an important criterion – an institute in a metro city is likely to have better industry interaction and better placement opportunities. Also at this level, the majority of the placements are in the same geographical region, e.g. if you are studying in NCR you are unlikely to be placed outside North India. Also given that the salary levels will not be very high, look at keeping the total expense of doing an MBA (fee + boarding & lodging) under control. Servicing a 20+ lakh loan will be challenging with a 10 lakh salary.

Cluster 5:
No. Sub-Cluster Institute City Program Avg. Package (LPA)
1 5A Delhi School of Management – Delhi Technological University (DTU) New Delhi MBA –
2 5A Nirma University – Institute of Management (IMNU) Ahmedabad MBA 10.5
3 5A Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) Bengaluru PGDM 11.8
4 5B Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management (LBS) New Delhi PGDM, Finance 12.42
5 5B Institute of Financial Management & Research (IFMR) Chennai PGDM, PGDM-WE 10(2021)
6 5B Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) Bengaluru MBA 11.27
7 5B Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management (SIOM) Nasik MBA Ops 12.38
8 5B International Management Institute (IMI) New Delhi PGDHRM –
9 5B Symbiosis Institute of Digital & Telecom Management (SIDTM) Pune MBA 11.63
10 5B Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS) Pune MBA 10.6
11 5B Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication (SIMC) Pune MBA CM –
12 5C Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM) Chennai PGDM 12.5
13 5C TAPMI School of Business, Manipal University Jaipur MBA 12.10
14 5C Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM) Gurgaon PGPM 1 year 10.53
15 5C International Management Institute (IMI) Kolkata PGDM 9.12
16 5C Institute of Management Technology (IMT) Ghaziabad DCP –
17 5C International Management Institute (IMI) Delhi PGDM B&I –
18 5C National Institute of Bank Management Pune PGDM B & FS 11.41
19 5C Welingkar Institute of Management Mumbai MMS, PGDM 9.94
20 5C Management Development Institute (MDI) Murshidabad PGP 11.32
21 5C Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC GBO), Delhi Univ. Delhi GBO 10.61

 

Cluster 6:

No. Sub-Cluster Institute City Program Avg. Package (LPA)
1 6A Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship (XIME) Bengaluru PGDM 9.20
2 6A Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) Hyderabad PGDM 9.59
3 6A Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB) Pune MBA AB, MBA E&E –
4 6A Symbiosis Centre for Management and HRD (SCMHRD) Pune MBA-IM –
5 6A Symbiosis Center for Information Technology Pune MBA-ITBM –
6 6A Institute of Management Technology (IMT) Hyderabad PGDM 9.4
7 6A Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM) Gurgaon PGPME –
8 6B Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) Bhopal PGDFM 8.6
9 6B Faculty of Management Studies, BHU (FMS BHU) Varanasi MBA MBA IB 9.7
10 6B SDM Institute for Management Development (SDMIMD) Mysore PGDM 8.9
11 6B Institute of Management and Technology IMT – Nagpur Nagpur PGDM 9.9
12 6B ICFAI Business School Hyderabad MBA/PGPM 8.71
13 6B Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS) Ranchi PM 7.19
14 6B NL Dalmia Institute of Management Studies and Research Mumbai PGDM 8.51
15 6B Amrita University Amritanagar MBA 10.32
16 6B New Delhi Institute of Management (NDIM) New Delhi PGDM 8.25
17 6C University Business School (UBS) Chandigarh MBA –
18 6C Symbiosis Institute of Business Management- Hyderabad Hyderabad MBA 8.2
19 6C Birla Institute of Technology & Management (BIMTECH) Greater Noida PGDM 9.32
20 6C Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies and Research (SICSR) Pune MBA-IT 7.42
21 6C Institute of Management Studies Ghaziabad PGDM 8.25
22 6C Xavier Institute of Management (XIMB) Bhubaneswar MBA – Rural Management 6.36
23 6C Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS) Ranchi Marketing & Finance –
24 6C Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies Harihar and Pune PGDM 8
25 6C Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship (XIME) Kochi PGDM 8.63
26 6C FOSTIIMA Business School New Delhi PGDM 9.8
27 6C Symbiosis Institute of Health Services (SIHS) Pune MBA 6.5
28 6C Symbiosis Institute of Banking and Finance (SSBF) Pune MBA BF, PGDBF 10.56
29 6C Shiv Nadar University NCR MBA 7.51
30 6C Institute of Technology and Management Mumbai PGDM 8.65
31 6C Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE) Hyderabad PGDM 6.4
32 6C Fortune Institute of International Business (FIIB) New Delhi PGDM 7.25
33 6C Alliance University Anekal, Karnataka MBA 8.0