CAT 2025: IIM Jammu, Bodh Gaya, Sirmaur to admit through CAP 2026 as five IIMs opt out

Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Bodh Gaya and Sirmaur will participate in the Common Admission Process (CAP 2026) for MBA admissions, even as five IIMs have withdrawn from the joint process. IIM Jammu had earlier confirmed that it would remain part of CAP 2026.

While the Common Admission Test (CAT 2025) remains the main criterion for admission, all 21 IIMs follow their own selection process to admit students for postgraduate programmes in management.

In a major shift in admission policy, IIM Udaipur has decided to exit CAP 2026 and conduct its own independent MBA admission starting from the academic year 2026-28.

Four IIMs - Raipur, Kashipur, Ranchi and Tiruchirappalli - also exited CAP, and introduced Joint Admission Process (JAP 2026). This move was taken to reduce the time taken to conduct the second-stage of selection, which includes assessing written ability test or personal interview, academic qualification and work experience.

Meanwhile, IIM Sirmaur has not announced the detailed admission criteria for MBA admission 2026, however, it has reduced the sectional-cut-offs from 94 to 92 percentile. CAT scores will be given 30% weightage while preparing the final merit list.

Additionally, 20% weightage will be given to personal interview and 10% for written ability test. The remaining 40% marks will depend on academic and work experience, and gender diversity factor.

On the other hand, IIM Bodh Gaya allots 45% weightage for CAT in the final selection. The CAT cut-off 2025 for IIM Bodh Gaya has been fixed at 94 for general, 77 for both EWS and OBC, 60 for SC, and 40 for ST and PwD.

For IIM Jammu, the final selection will be based on 42% CAT score, 30% personal interview, and 28% profile weightage. This year, the institute is expected to admit 300 students. Profile scores are calculated based on applicants’ performance in Class 10, Class 12, and graduation (10 marks), work experience (10 marks), and gender diversity (up to 8 marks). The CAT overall cut-off percentile was 95 for General, 81 for EWS and OBC, 66 for SC, and 41 for ST candidates.