
IIT Bombay's management school changes eligibility criteria
MUMBAI: The Shailesh J Mehta School of Management at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) has changed its eligibility criteria for its MBA programme, opening its doors to a more diverse range of students.
In a significant shift, students who have completed a three-year undergraduate degree in any stream will now be eligible to apply for enrolment. Until now, only candidates with a four-year degree were considered, typically engineering graduates. The decision, taken at a Senate meeting last year, will take effect from the 2025–26 academic year.
A statement released by an institute reads, 'The aim is to expand opportunities and make the prestigious MBA program more accessible to a wider range of students.'
To be eligible, general category applicants must secure at least 60% marks or a CPI (Cumulative Performance Index) of 6.5 in their undergraduate degree. For students belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), or those with disabilities, the requirement is 55% marks or a CPI of 6.0. Final-year students awaiting results can also apply. However, their admission will be confirmed only after they successfully complete their degree requirements.
The statement further said that the selection process remains aligned with other top management institutes such as the Indian Institutes of Managements (IIMs). A valid score in the Common Admission Test (CAT) will continue to play a key role in the admission process.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Indian Express
RBI Policy: Why the MPC is likely to cut repo rate for the third consecutive time
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to cut the repo rate – the key policy rate – by 25 basis points (bps) in the policy meeting scheduled from June 4 to 6, to support growth as inflation continues to remain below the 4 per cent target. This would be the third consecutive reduction in the repo rate since February 2025. A section of analysts, however, are of the view that the MPC may deliver a 50 bps cut to boost growth. Economists also believe that the RBI may maintain the 'accommodative' monetary policy stance. With benign inflation, there has been a consensus among economists that the six-member MPC will cut the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 5.75 per cent in the policy scheduled to be announced on June 6. One basis point (bps) is one-hundredth of a percentage point. 'We expect RBI to cut policy rates by 25 bps in June. The space to cut policy rates is derived from sharp deceleration in inflation. Meanwhile, given the uncertainty on demand conditions both domestic and external, growth requires money policy support,' said IDFC First Bank Chief Economist, Gaura Sengupta. Headline inflation, as measured by year-on-year changes in the all-India consumer price index (CPI), moderated to 3.2 per cent in April, the lowest since July 2019, from 3.3 per cent in March. The easing in CPI has been driven by the sustained fall in food prices. Economists said that with inflation remaining below the 4 per cent target in the last three months (February, March and April), and a sharp fall in food inflation, CPI is likely to durably align with the 4 per cent target over a 12-month period. Under the flexible inflation targeting (FIT) framework, the RBI has been mandated by the government to maintain CPI at 4 per cent with a band of +/-2 per cent. 'The benign inflation outlook and moderate growth warrant monetary policy to be growth supportive, while remaining watchful about the rapidly evolving global macroeconomic conditions,' the RBI said in the annual report for 2024-25. State Bank of India's Group Chief Economic Adviser Soumya Kanti Ghosh said, 'We expect a 50-basis point rate cut in June 2025 policy as a large rate cut could reinvigorate a credit cycle.' If RBI reduces the repo rate by 50 bps, the 10-year benchmark yield is likely to fall by 10-15 bps. On Thursday, yield on the new 10-year bond (6.33%-2035) closed at 6.19 per cent. The MPC's announcement will come a day after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced to lower the interest rate by 25 bps. Accordingly, the interest rates on the deposit facility, the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility will be decreased to 2 per cent, 2.15 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively, with effect from June 11, 2025. Will there be a change in the policy stance? The MPC is likely to retain the monetary policy stance as 'accommodative', analysts said. In the April policy, the rate-setting panel had changed the stance from neutral to accommodative. According to economists, the RBI is likely to revise its projections on real gross domestic product (GDP) and inflation for FY2026. 'The commentary on both growth and inflation will be important as there are expectations of revisions in their forecasts for both the parameters. It is also expected that the RBI will detail its analysis on how the global environment would be affecting the Indian economy considering that the tariff reprieve provided by the USA would end in July,' said Madan Sabnvis Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist at Bank of Baroda. As per the RBI's estimate, CPI inflation for 2025-26 is expected to be at 4 per cent. The easing of supply chain pressures, softening of global commodity prices and higher agricultural production on the back of a likely above-normal south-west monsoon augur well for the inflation outlook in 2025-26, the RBI's annual report said. 'Any potential downward revision in FY26 CPI inflation will be closely watched, as it will provide an indication of the depth of the rate cutting cycle,' said IDFC First Bank's Sengupta. The real GDP growth for 2025-26 is projected at 6.5 per cent. In the quarter ended January-March 2025, the domestic economy picked up pace and grew at a four-quarter high of 7.4 per cent. For the financial year 2024-25, the growth rate stood at 6.5 per cent, which was a four-year low. 'The Indian economy is poised to sustain its position as the fastest growing major economy during 2025-26, supported by pickup in private consumption, healthy balance sheets of banks and corporates, easing financial conditions and the government's continued thrust on capital expenditure,' the RBI's annual report said. How would a repo rate cut impact borrowers? If the repo rate is reduced by 25 bps, all external benchmark lending rates (EBLR) linked to it will decline by a similar margin. It would be a relief for borrowers as their equated monthly instalments (EMIs) on home and personal loans will drop by 25 bps. Following a 50 bps cut in the repo rate since February 2025, most banks have reduced their repo-linked lending rates by the same magnitude. Lenders have also lowered their marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR). Is RBI likely to cut the repo rate further? Following the likely repo rate cut in the June policy, the RBI may go for a total reduction of 50 bps in the current financial year, experts said. 'Two more cuts over the subsequent two policy reviews are expected, taking the repo rate to 5.25 per cent by the end of the cycle,' said Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, ICRA Ltd. 'We expect a 25bp rate cut at the upcoming June 6 meeting, followed by another in August, taking the repo rate to 5.5 per cent,' HSBC Global Research said in a report. The RBI may pause in October to evaluate the transmission of monetary policy to lending and deposit rates. 'We forecast a final rate cut in December, although much will depend on the state of growth around then,' the report said.


Indian Express
5 hours ago
- Indian Express
Niti Aayog asks if think-tanks should work on new data as MoSPI says alternative data can be used in official stats
Even as the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) presses ahead with the use of alternative sources of data in India's official statistics, the NITI Aayog has asked if the ministry should even be engaging with such data sets. Speaking on Thursday at the start of a two-day workshop on 'Using Alternate Data Sources and Frontier Technologies for Policy Making', NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Suman Bery questioned if these new areas should be a priority for MoSPI and cautioned that they should 'not become an all-consuming task or preoccupation', although he added that using new data sources and technologies is 'very powerful' as it helps give a sense about the direction in which the economy is headed in a fast-moving world for real-time interventions. 'I would also make the point that to some extent the issue of whether all of this should be going on in MoSPI and in the statistical infrastructure or whether it should be going on in our rich network of think tanks is, I think, an appropriate issue. For example, NCAER… has a centre for data analytics,' Bery said. New Delhi-based think-tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) set up a National Data Innovation Centre in 2017 to serve as a 'laboratory for experiments in data collection', among other objectives. Meanwhile, speaking at the same workshop, MoSPI Secretary Saurabh Garg said alternate data sources and frontier technology have 'reached a stage that we can actually use it for official statistics' and that this augured well for the future of data analysis. In an interview to The Indian Express, published on Thursday, Garg had said the Statistics Ministry is looking to use data from sources such as online booking platforms for air and rail fares and over-the-top (OTT) streaming services, among others, for the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) series that will be released in early 2026. 'For the new CPI series, MoSPI is expanding its approach by exploring alternative data sources, such as online platforms for airfare, rail fare, OTT platforms and administrative records for price data of petrol, diesel and LPG. Discussions are ongoing with IRCTC, under the Ministry of Railways, and the PPAC under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for direct transfer of data for integration in CPI,' Garg said. MoSPI is in the process of revising its key macroeconomic indicators — CPI, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Apart from updating the base years to 2022-23 for GDP and IIP, and 2024 for CPI, the revision exercise will also see changes in methodology used to compute the indicators. In addition, the updated CPI series will be based on a new basket of goods and services as per the findings of MoSPI's recent Household Consumption Expenditure Survey. This could result in near-obsolete items such as audio casettes being removed from the CPI basket, with prices of more contemporary goods like treadmills being used in the measurement of retail inflation. 'Intelligent integration' Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran, also speaking at the workshop, pushed for the use of alternative data in official statistics. While surveys, administrative, and national accounts data remain indispensable as inputs in making decisions, the pace, complexity, and granularity required by modern policymaking and the challenges attached to them 'have exposed limitations in both the periodicity and dimensionality of such data,' he said. According to Nageswaran, alternative data such as satellite-based night-time luminosity — used as a proxy for economic activity in areas with delayed or weak statistical reporting — and other satellite data can help policymakers monitor industrial activity, road connectivity, and cropping patterns, among others. 'These insights can inform timely decisions on input provisioning, crop insurance payouts, and regional procurement strategies,' he said. These new types of data capture emergent behaviour, respond faster to shocks, and reflect the 'lived experience of economic agents in ways that conventional aggregates sometimes cannot,' he added. However, the government's top economist warned that while alternative data can help policymakers move from 'retrospective diagnostics to proactive intervention', they could not replace official statistics and warranted 'intelligent integration'. 'Therefore, the mature approach is not to choose between official and alternative data but to design systems where each informs and validates the other, especially in environments where timely action is crucial,' Nageswaran said, adding that enthusiasm must be tempered with prudence as official data still carried a 'certain higher sense of authenticity and reliability and accuracy given the years of usage and in-built checks and balances'. With reference to frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence, Nageswaran said the 'black box nature of certain algorithms, the potential for bias embedded in training data, and risks to individual privacy must be actively mitigated through robust governance frameworks'. Further, these technologies should be deployed in a way that they are tailored to institutional absorption capacity. 'A well-designed algorithm is only as effective as the human systems interpreting and acting upon its output,' the chief economic adviser said. Aanchal Magazine is Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and reports on the macro economy and fiscal policy, with a special focus on economic science, labour trends, taxation and revenue metrics. With over 13 years of newsroom experience, she has also reported in detail on macroeconomic data such as trends and policy actions related to inflation, GDP growth and fiscal arithmetic. Interested in the history of her homeland, Kashmir, she likes to read about its culture and tradition in her spare time, along with trying to map the journeys of displacement from there. ... Read More


Time of India
7 hours ago
- Time of India
RBI Monetary Policy Committee Meeting: Date, time, where to watch live streaming of RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra's MPC statement
The six-member MPC's decision will be announced on Friday. RBI MPC meet date, time: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Sanjay Malhotra, is meeting this week to evaluate the repo rate, liquidity conditions, CPI inflation and GDP growth prospects for the Indian economy. The bi-monthly policy review began on Wednesday, with market experts forecasting a 25 basis points interest rate cut, taking into account the declining inflation and the need to stimulate growth amid economic pressures created by US President Donald Trump's trade restrictions. The six-member MPC's decision will be announced on Friday. The committee consists of the RBI governor, two senior central bank officials, and three government-nominated members. RBI MPC Meeting: Date, Time The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee meeting began on June 4, 2025. Governor Sanjay Malhotra will present the decisions from the two-day MPC discussions on June 6, 2025 at 10:00 AM. Experts will scrutinise the governor's remarks to understand the central bank's stance, its GDP growth forecasts, and expected CPI inflation outlook. The RBI's assessment holds particular importance as it occurs during a period of widespread concerns about a potential US recession, global economic deceleration, and possible negative effects from the Donald Trump administration's retaliatory tariffs. The Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee announcement, presented by Governor Sanjay Malhotra, will be streamed live on June 6, 2025, commencing at 10:00 AM via RBI's official Youtube channel. Also, The Times of India will provide comprehensive coverage and analysis of the RBI governor's statement, MPC meeting's implications for the economy and loan borrowers through its Live blog. Experts anticipate the RBI to lower the repo rate by 25 basis points, reducing it from 6% to 5.75%. The MPC's previous adjustment occurred in April when they decreased the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6%, representing the second reduction since May 2020. While the consensus amongst experts is for a 25 basis points cut, SBI expects a 50 basis points cut to spur economic growth. The Indian economy grew at a better-than-expected rate of 7.4% in the last quarter of financial year 2024-25, as per the initial government estimates. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now