IIM Ahmedabad to introduce reservation policy in PhD admissions from 2025

IIM Ahmedabad will introduce reservations in its PhD admissions, starting from the 2025 academic year. The move aligns with government guidelines, reserving seats for SC, ST, OBC, and disabled candidates.

In Short

• IIM Ahmedabad to introduce a PhD reservation policy from 2025
• Seats reserved for SC, ST, OBC, and disabled candidates
• IIM Ahmedabad PhD applicants must take the CAT or an equivalent test

The exam conducting body, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, has introduced a reservation policy for its PhD admissions, starting with the 2025 academic year. According to the PhD Admission 2025 information brochure, this year's intake will follow the government's reservation guidelines.

The premier B-school will now reserve seats for candidates from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and persons with disabilities in its doctoral programme.

The institute’s move comes after it assured the Gujarat High Court that it would implement reservations for PhD admissions beginning in 2025. For over six decades, IIM Ahmedabad had not provided any reservations for under-represented communities in its PhD programme, which began in 1971.

The decision follows public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Global IIM Alumni Network in the Gujarat High Court, which sought the enforcement of reservations in IIMA’s PhD programmes. The PIL argued that the lack of reservation in the programme violated constitutional provisions, the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act (CERA), and University Grants Commission (UGC) norms.

In its response to the PIL, IIM Ahmedabad orally stated that it would begin implementing reservations for SC, ST, OBC, and disabled candidates in 2025. The CERA Act mandates that central educational institutions reserve 15 percent of seats for SC candidates, 7.5 percent for ST candidates, and 27 percent for OBC candidates.

Applicants to IIM Ahmedabad's PhD programme are required to take the Common Admission Test (CAT) or an equivalent standardised test.