Business Today 7 December 2025

The history of management education in India dates to 1949, but the rise of business schools is closely linked to the 1991 economic reforms. From around four dozen then to around 3,540 recognised ones today, the sector has expanded massively. Yet, a central question now is whether a B-school degree is worth the investment. Course fees at top-tier schools have risen nearly 23% in the past five years. Concerns about wage growth and return on investment have become sharper. This edition of the BT-MDRA annual ranking of India’s Best Business Schools examines these issues through data and other performance metrics. BT has long pioneered several significant rankings and listings. This 26th edition continues that tradition with a rigorous effort to identify India’s best B-schools. As George Skaria writes, it is…

RISING COST THE AVERAGE COURSE FEE AT TOP 25 B-SCHOOLS HAS CROSSED ₹20 LAKH, RISING NEARLY 23% IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS  SOURCE BT-MDRA INDIA’S BEST B-SCHOOLS SURVEY 2025 SLOW SALARY GROWTH AVERAGE SALARIES OF GRADUATES FROM THE TOP 25 B-SCHOOLS RECORDED THE SLOWEST GROWTH OF 16% IN FIVE YEARS NOTE AVERAGE SALARY (IN ₹ LAKH) SOURCE BT-MDRA INDIA’S BEST B-SCHOOLS SURVEY 2025 1.27 IS THE AVERAGE RETURN ON INVESTMENT AT GOVERNMENT-AIDED INSTITUTES IN 2025 AGAINST 1.22 A YEAR AGO. ROI FOR PRIVATE INSTITUTES STOOD AT 0.88 IN 2025 AGAINST 0.85 LAST YEAR ₹ 17.9 LAKH THE MEAN AVERAGE ANNUAL DOMESTIC SALARY OFFER RECEIVED AT GOVERNMENT B-SCHOOLS RANKED IN THE TOP 100 IN 2025. IT STOOD AT ₹11.6 LAKH AT THEIR PRIVATE COUNTERPARTS LOWER RETURNS THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI) OF THE TOP 25…

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) leads BT-MDRA’s 26th annual ranking of India’s Best B-Schools, reaffirming its status as the country’s premier management institution. For its Director, Bharat Bhasker, the real story is the race to keep management education relevant amid tectonic shifts in technology and global business. Edited excerpts from an interview with BT: Q: How would you describe the state of management education in India? A: Our management education ecosystem is in good shape, but the changes that are happening are quite drastic in nature. Technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, robotics and autonomous systems will significantly impact workplaces. Management education must immediately begin to echo what is happening in the actual workplace, because ultimately, you are creating leaders for the future. A key challenge is how quickly…

IT IS PERHAPS fitting that the two oldest IIMs, IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta, have come up tops by claiming first and second ranks, respectively, in the BT-MDRA India’s Best B-Schools Survey in which 270 business schools participated. It was a close call: the difference between the two schools was just 0.6 points. The others in the Top Five are IIM Lucknow, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research and IIM Indore. In fact, there has been just a small reshuffle in the top ten pack. Further, in the top ten, the majority—six—are government-owned IIMs, while the other four are privately-owned and managed. The ostensible lack of action at the top hides the varied undercurrents in India’s B-school landscape captured by the BT-MDRA study. For one, B-school education continues to…

1 GLOBAL GEOPOLITICAL AND ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTIES Increase in admissions of international students 2 ADVENT OF AI IN COMPANIES Rise in admissions of international students 3 PLACEMENTS Mild dip; Dip in ROI 4 FEES Some schools increase, others maintain it 5 REVENUE MODEL Increase in non-two year MBAs like Advanced Management Programmes and Executive Education 6 COLLABORATIONS WITH FOREIGN SCHOOLS Increase largely in mid- to lower-tier schools 7 SUMMER INTERNSHIPS Fewer companies at even the better schools and lower internship stipends 8 INDUSTRY SPONSORED PROJECTS Steep fall in top-tier schools, mid-tier schools gain moderately 9 CAREER OPTIONS Many MBA graduates opting to found start-ups rather than take up jobs 10 DIVERSITY Schools giving scholarships, even grace marks, to female students to encourage diversity…

THE INDIAN Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), has topped the BT-MDRA India’s Best B-Schools rankings. But it is an unenviable position: even though it became a proud winner, it did so with a slender margin relative to the next on the list, had to face many challenges through the year like economic uncertainty due to global conflicts and growth of artificial intelligence (AI), and is staring at a landscape where management education and the nature of companies will be sharply rewritten. Bharat Bhasker, Director of IIMA, says, “We are in a good shape and trying to keep up with the changing technology, but the pace [of adaptation] has to be enhanced. We have to work doubly hard to catch up and remain relevant to the business environment which is unfolding…