The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are introducing stand-alone UG programmes with a diminishing flow of government money as a response to NEP 2020 and under fire for revenue-based motivations.
In parallel, IIM Udaipur will launch an on-campus BBA course from next year. The fees for UG courses vary from ₹4.5 lakh for IIM Bangalore's online BBA to almost ₹28 lakh for Kozhikode's Bachelor in Management Studies (BMS).
The expansion of the UG courses is attributed by IIM officials to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 push for flexible learning and driven by academic requirements and not by finances. Despite this, government investment has fallen significantly—dropping by up to 75.5% from ₹1,030 crore in 2017-18 to ₹251.89 crore in 2025-26—after the IIM Act, 2017 gave autonomy to the institutions. All IIMs offering undergrad courses except IIM Kozhikode have taken Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) loans of ₹250– ₹400 crore, where the institutes repay the amount while the government reimburses the interest.
Students view the high fees as an investment that provides exposure to the IIM environment — best faculty, peer pool, and brand equity. Experts warn, however, that the shift can water down the IIMs' focused attention, turning them into mass universities as they would come under pressure to raise their own revenues.
IIM UG programmes
IIM Sirmaur launched the BMS course, the first UG course of an IIM, in September 2024.
Justifying the shift, IIM Sirmaur director Dr. Prafulla Agnihotri added, "Most UG management courses in contemporary universities are too theoretical in nature. We believed that management education should sharpen decision-making and offer greater practical application of theory to its students and launched the BMS course last year.".
He acknowledged the transition was hard on staff initially, who had no past experience teaching undergrads, but added, "After a year, our faculty have settled into the challenges of the BMS."
IIM Sirmaur's BMS course received 2,373 applications for only 120 seats this year, for which the four-year program would cost ₹22.73 lakh. Admission is given based on marks secured by students in the written test Integrated Program in Management Aptitude Test (IPMAT) organized by IIM Indore and personal interview.
