IIM Raipur MBA admission: the latest published policy
IIM Raipur’s published 2026–28 MBA policy describes a two-year, full-time residential postgraduate degree. For that cohort, the institute used the Joint Admission Process (JAP) with IIM Kashipur, IIM Ranchi and IIM Tiruchirappalli. Registration after CAT 2025 results and the initial personal-interview shortlist were common across the four institutes, and participating IIMs conducted the interview jointly. After that common stage, IIM Raipur prepared its own category-wise merit list. A shared interview therefore did not mean that every institute made one common final offer list.
This is the latest flagship MBA policy located in the official material reviewed for this page. It is specific to the 2026–28 batch; its CAT year, deadlines, eligibility, score weights and withdrawal dates should not be carried forward to a later batch. The policy page currently provides an older policy rather than a confirmed 2027–29 application schedule, so candidates considering a future intake should wait for the new official policy and use the JAP portal only when the applicable cycle opens.
Eligibility and minimum graduation marks
The 2026–28 policy presents the MBA as open to graduates from all disciplines, but it also sets category-specific minimum graduation marks that must be met for inclusion in the institute’s final merit list: 60% for General, EWS and NC-OBC candidates, 50% for SC candidates, and 45% for ST and PwD candidates. These are minimum academic conditions, not CAT cutoffs and not a guarantee of a shortlist or offer. The policy separately says that the Government of India reservation norms applicable to Central Educational Institutions govern offers.
The policy asks applicants to read the common JAP policy as well as IIM Raipur’s own policy. For the 2026–28 cycle, candidates were required to register after CAT 2025 results and an invitation email from JAP. JAP managed the shared registration and PI shortlisting stages. The individual IIM then used its own post-PI policy to prepare a category-wise list. Applicants should keep these steps distinct: appearing for CAT alone did not complete the application, and participation in the joint PI did not replace each institute’s own final evaluation.
How the 2026–28 final score worked
The published score table says the final score is out of 150 marks. It assigns 50 marks to the CAT 2025 index score, 40 to the personal interview, 15 each to Class X and Class XII or equivalent, 15 to work experience, 5 to profile and diversity marks of either 8 for gender diversity or 2 for academic diversity. The policy states that an eligible candidate receives the gender-diversity score or the academic-diversity score, not both. Read literally, the listed components total 150 only if both diversity components are counted; the public page does not explain how the stated total is reconciled for candidates who receive only one. Applicants who need to assess their own score should ask the admissions office to clarify this calculation rather than infer a personal total from the table.
Within the CAT component, the policy says it uses scaled percentiles from the three sections and the overall percentile with equal weights. An overall CAT percentile alone therefore does not show the entire calculation. The institute’s 2026–28 policy does not give one universal CAT percentile that guarantees an interview or admission. A prior-year cutoff notice is a separate historical reference, not a substitute for a current-cycle shortlist rule.
The experience component had a stated cutoff date of 31 December 2025. The policy’s table awards no points below 12 complete months, increases the score in steps from 12 through 35 months, gives 15 marks for 36–42 months, 10 for 43–48 months and 5 above 48 months. The institute directs applicants to the JAP 2026 policy for experience-score eligibility details. Work experience is only one element of the final score; more years do not always mean more marks under this schedule.
The profile score is also conditional. The policy lists four marks for applicants who completed or were completing undergraduate education at institutions in the top ten of NIRF 2025 in specified categories, and one mark for CFA Level I, II or III certification. The academic-diversity score is governed by an annexure listing qualifying degree fields; the policy says unlisted degrees are decided by the admission committee. Candidates should use the exact degree title and the applicable annexure rather than assume that a broad subject label will qualify.
The 2025 CAT cutoff notice is historical
IIM Raipur’s separate MBA 2025 cutoff notice gave CAT 2024 total-percentile minima for eligibility to participate in the group discussion and personal interview stages. The listed thresholds included 96.00 for General, 90.02 for EWS, 86.84 for NC-OBC, 65.05 for SC and 56.69 for ST; the notice also listed separate PwD thresholds. These were eligibility cutoffs for the 2025 process, not final admission scores and not current 2026–28 or future-cycle cutoffs.
The CAT 2024 notice is especially easy to misread because its title refers to GD and PI eligibility. Meeting a minimum did not by itself mean that a candidate would receive an offer. The subsequent 2026–28 policy uses a different cycle’s CAT year and describes a common JAP PI process followed by IIM Raipur’s own category-wise final merit list. Applicants comparing old cutoff tables should verify the exam year, category, section conditions and stage before using a number. Do not compare a past PI-shortlist minimum with an offer cutoff or final merit score as if they were the same measure.
Offer acceptance and withdrawal
For the 2026–28 flagship MBA, the institute required selected candidates to pay an offer-acceptance amount of ₹1 lakh by the date and time in the offer letter. The amount was adjusted against Term I fees; the balance Term I amount was due at registration. Missing the payment or registration deadlines could result in the offer being withdrawn. These are the terms stated for the 2026–28 batch, so an applicant should follow the dates and payment instructions in their own offer rather than a prior-cycle summary.
The policy also describes withdrawal and refunds by timing. Requests before registration were to be handled through the admission portal. It states that a withdrawal before the institute’s specified date would be refunded after a processing charge, while later withdrawals could have hostel and other charges deducted and might result in forfeiture if they created a shortfall below the sanctioned batch size. The precise deadline appears in the separate withdrawal procedure. Because the financial consequence depends on the actual date and batch conditions, read that procedure before accepting an offer and retain the payment record.
Do not confuse the flagship MBA with MBA-PPG
IIM Raipur also publishes a separate MBA in Public Policy and Governance (MBA-PPG) under the Chief Minister’s Governance Fellowship. Its 2026–28 policy is not the flagship JAP route. It is described as exclusively for candidates domiciled in Chhattisgarh, uses reservation rules prescribed by the Government of Chhattisgarh, and accepts valid CAT scores from 2023, 2024 or 2025. The policy gives separate academic criteria, a maximum age of 35 by the application deadline, a separate shortlist decision and a 100-mark final list with CAT, interview and academic-performance components.
Those conditions belong to MBA-PPG only. A candidate should not apply the Chhattisgarh domicile restriction, 35-year age limit or three-year CAT-score option to the flagship MBA. Equally, the flagship’s JAP process, 2026 graduation thresholds and 150-mark table should not be transferred to MBA-PPG. Applicants should identify the exact programme name on the application form before checking eligibility or paying an application fee.
A practical application checklist
For a future flagship MBA cycle, first locate the policy and application notice for that exact batch on the institute’s admission page and announcements page. Confirm the CAT year, registration portal, invitation requirement and PI process. Then check the applicable graduation threshold, category certificate requirements, final-score formula, work-experience cutoff and any profile or diversity conditions. Keep the offer-acceptance amount separate from total programme fees and read the withdrawal procedure before paying. If the public policy leaves a calculation unclear, seek clarification from the IIM Raipur admissions office; do not use a coaching-site estimate or a prior-year cutoff as a promise of eligibility.
The official sources reviewed here do not establish a currently open 2027–29 application window or a guaranteed CAT percentile for a future intake. Use the 2026–28 policy as a dated example of the process and return to the institute and JAP pages when the next cycle’s official notice is published.