Mumbai: The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Mumbai is all set to expand its academic offerings starting from the 2025–26 academic year by introducing new Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs. Among these is an MBA in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, aimed at fostering an entrepreneurial culture and encouraging innovative thinking among aspiring business leaders in India. 

In addition to this specialised program, one of the top B-Schools in the country is also going to make management education more accessible by launching flexible learning formats. From 2025, the Institute will offer a fully online MBA program and a weekend MBA program conducted on Saturdays and Sundays, informed IIM Mumbai Director Professor Manoj Kumar Tiwari. 

“These programs are designed for individuals balancing professional commitments and academic aspirations, allowing them to pursue a full MBA degree without compromising their weekday responsibilities. Unlike traditional executive MBA offerings, these options are regular MBA programs, ensuring participants receive the same comprehensive curriculum and rigorous training as full-time students,” he said. “Our main focus will be on providing tech-driven and innovation driven programs so that we are able to create a skill based manpower to the industry,” Professor Tiwari added.  

For the online course, while the mode of education will not require physical presence, it will be necessary for the students to physically appear for at least half of the final examination papers every semester, Professor Tiwari informed. “They can attend lectures, submit assignments and do other course related work online, but they will have to appear for about 50% of exams physically,’ he said. The fees for the online MBA program will be around 15 lakh rupees, Professor Tiwari informed. 

Additionally, with an aim to encourage entrepreneurial culture in India, IIM Mumbai is also all set to start operations of its in-house incubator to help new startups and innovations. The incubator will allow both its students as well as outsiders to start their own entrepreneurship journey, according to Professor Tiwari.

Set up at a cost of over 50 lakh rupees, the incubator — which currently has 10 rooms — is all set to start operations early next year. “From January, or to be on a safer side from January, the operations will begin,” Professor Tiwari said, informing that the work on setting up the incubator started one and a half years ago. 

“Even currently, we have selected 10 students from our campus and have allocated Rs.10,000 each to them to work on their innovative entrepreneurial ideas. Once the incubator starts its operation, we will be able to support a large number of our students as well as innovators from outside our campus,” he said. 

“We will provide an initial fund of one to two lakh rupees to entrepreneurs who we select to use our incubator for the growth of their innovation,” Professor Tiwari said. Asked about the fundings for the program, professor Tiwari said that the institute will try to be self-sufficient with the help of its chairman and the board. “We will apply for funds from the government, but thankfully we will not have to depend on that,” he said, adding that the institution can fund the project from its regular funds. 

These announcements were on Tuesday made as IIM Mumbai held the farewell event of the fifth phase of Yuva Sangam, the cultural exchange program under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat campaign by the Prime Minister's Office.    

Addressing the students and officials on the occasion, Professor Tiwari said, “Students are our future. And for our future to be strong and united, it's important for them to understand our country and its culture better. India is a very diverse country with a lot of cultural nuances. For a country to stay strong and united it's important for us as a nation to understand these nuances and be tolerant towards each other. Programs like Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat will help build bridges between different states and bring the country closer.”

PLACEMENTS:

Placements are ongoing at IIM Mumbai. With seniors (those with prior work experience) getting placements in the ongoing cycle, the process of placements for juniors (those with no prior work experience) will start in January 2025. 

Out of about 480 students, at least 276 have already gotten placed. While 142 students have received the pre-placement offers (PPO), 134 have been selected in the Lateral Recruitment Process (LRP). Remaining students will also be placed once the January cycle comes to an end, said professor Tiwari. 

Packages for the students have increased significantly, said Professor Tiwari.  “Companies that used to offer around 25 to 26 lakh INR annually are offering around 34 to 35 lakh INR annually in the current cycle,” he said.