IIM Bangalore 50th Convocation 2025: 798 PhD, MBA, PGPPM students graduate; 8 bag gold medals

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore conducted its 50th convocation today, March 28. A total of 798 students have been awarded degrees this year while eight secured gold medals for their academic performance. Vikram Sarabhai professor and former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) S Somanath was the chief guest on the occasion.

During the IIM Bangalore convocation 2025, the institute awarded degrees to the students of the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and MBA programmes – the Post Graduate Programme in Enterprise Management (PGPEM), Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP), Post Graduate Programme in Business Analytics (PGPBA) and Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP). Students of the Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (PGPPM) received the Master of Management Studies (Public Policy) degree, while some got the Post Graduate Diploma in Public Policy and Management.

798 IIM Bangalore students graduated this year from the institute including 18 PhD, 80 PGPEM, 82 ePGP, 72 PGPBA), 529 PGP, and 13 PGPPM. In PGPPM, while 10 students received the PGPPM degree, three received the diploma.

Addressing the event, Somanath said, “The future is faster than you think and the world’s biggest problems are its biggest opportunities as well.” He listed some of the top-most disruptions brought about by technology. “Technological evolution is now global and exponential, with sensors, AI, robotics, virtual reality, blockchain, etc. With all these, we are reinventing the business model," he added.

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Devi Shetty, Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIM Bangalore said, "A word of advice on this very important day of yours. You are a privileged lot to be graduating from one of the top B-schools in the world, and this may facilitate the first phase of your careers. Just like it is very easy for children of film stars to bag the first film. But remember, only through sheer hard work will you be able to sustain that success."

One PhD scholar has been awarded a Gold medal for excellence in research, while gold medals were also awarded for best all round performance, first rank and second rank.

IIM Bangalore Convocation 2025: Gold medalists

PhD

Uttarakhand’s Ashish Singh Bhandari from the Production and Operations Management Area has been awarded the Institute Research Award 2025 and Professor Prakash G. Apte Award 2025. Aged 34 years, he works as an assistant professor at Masters’ Union School of Business (MUSB), Gurugram, India. His research interests are energy storage, supply disruption, inventory management and optimization.

IIMB Convocation 2025: PhD gold medallist Ashish Singh Bhandari

ePGP

Chhattisgarh’s Parth Tiwari is the first rank holder in the Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP). 29-year-old Parth featured in the Director’s Merit List, consistently ranked among the top five out of 82 students. He was an elected member of the Student Academic Committee. His team was also among the top eight out of 154 teams globally to qualify for the final round in the Cornell EMI Corning Case Competition 2024.

IIMB Convocation 2025: ePGP gold medallist Parth Tiwari

Odisha’s Siddharth Pujari is the best all round performer in the programme. A sports enthusiast, he represented IIMB in Sangharsh (IIML) and Sangram as part of the institute’s Badminton team, and secured gold in Spardha and Executives’ Cup, silver in Shaurya (Men's Singles), and bronze in Ekatva (Mixed Doubles) at IIM Ahmedabad. He authored the BrandCom Handbook, the programme’s first standardized guide.

IIMB 50th Convocation 2025: ePGP gold medal winner Siddharth Pujari

PGP and PGPBA

Rajasthan’s Manthan Dhabriya is the first rank holder in the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP). he represented IIMB in multiple case competitions. His key achievements include: National Winner (PwC Challenge 5.0), National First Runner-up (WinZO BOSS Season 4, Kotak Life Growth Manager Season 3 and Accuracy Business Cup 2025), Campus Winner/National Finalist (Venture Capital Investment Competition 2024 and Renew ReLead 6.0) and National Finalist (Mahindra Rise Challenge and Airtel iCreate 2024). His success in case competitions earned him four PPIs and one PPO.

IIMB Convocation: PGP gold medal awarded to Manthan Dhabriya

Mumbai’s Ritvik Sandip Saraf is the second rank holder. While at IIMB, Ritvik secured a perfect grade of 4.0 in 11 out of 31 courses and Grade A in all 31 courses, resulting in a cumulative GPA of 3.87. He has also achieved significant success in business and finance case competitions. He has won or secured podium finishes in four national case competitions, in addition to being shortlisted as a national finalist in multiple others. He also served as a Junior Placement Representative. Ritvik finished the first year as a section topper for all three terms, featuring in the Director's Merit List. He was also awarded the Mold-Tek Scholarship and the IIMB Merit Scholarship.

IIM Bangalore Convocation 2025: Ritvik Sandip Saraf, gold medallist.

Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Paritosh Ashutosh Sharma is the best all round performer in PGP and PGPBA combined. He was a recipient of the Director’s Merit List and scholarship after the first year. He attended the exchange semester at HEC Paris where he secured a perfect 4.00 grade in seven out of eight subjects to secure a CGPA of 3.94/4.00. His graduating CGPA at IIMB was 3.79/4.00.

Paritosh was also a senior co-ordinator of the alumni committee and the cultural fest of IIMB, Unmaad. He captained the tennis and squash teams of the institute and won medals for IIMB at various competitions in the last two years.

Paritosh Ashutosh Sharma is PGP and PGPBA combined rank holder at IIMB.

Bihar’s Faiz Alam is the first rank holder in PGPBA. While pursuing the programme, he was placed in the Director’s Merit List for being in the top 5% of the batch. He was also the section topper in two out of the three terms in the first year. For his academic achievements, he received several scholarships. He was part of P&G’s Emerging Leaders programme and was also a national finalist in the Infosys Ingenious case competition.

Faiz Alam: IIM Bangalore PGPBA gold medallist.

PGPEM

Rajasthan’s Naveen Rathani, who is the first rank holder and the best all round performer in PGPEM, won seven case competitions across IIM Bangalore, IIM Indore, IIM Amritsar, IIM Bodh Gaya and Symbiosis Bangalore. He was also the national finalist for case competitions at IIM Lucknow and IIM Calcutta. He co-led and managed three workshops during Drishti 2023 and seven during Drishti Silver Jubilee, in coordination with the PGPEM office, faculty and alumni. Moreover, he was the recipient of the ‘40-under-40 Data Scientist’ by Analytics India Magazine and of the ’40-under-40 AI Innovators’ by Analytics Insights Group.

Naveen Rathani is PGPEM gold medal winner at IIMB. PGPPM

Avais Patwegar from Maharashtra received the Gold medal for the best academic performance in the Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (PGPPM). Aged 38 years, he is an Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS) Officer from the 2014 batch of UPSC Civil Services.

IIM Bangalore 50th Convocation 2025: Avais Patwegar is PGPPM gold medal winner.