The new IIMs: Charting their own path beyond legacy

On a warm afternoon at IIM Kashipur in Uttarakhand, a few MBA students wait outside the placement office, checking their phones more often than they admit. Conversations drift between interview calls, missed shortlists and the uncertainty of what comes next.

Saksham Agarwal, a former IT professional, scrolls through his inbox and shrugs when asked how the term has been. “It’s intense,” he says. “Five-day work weeks feel like a thing of the past.” There is a brief laugh, but it fades quickly. For many here, the experience is not just about earning a degree. It is about navigating a system that is still finding its footing, much like the students themselves.

A decade ago, campuses like this barely figured in mainstream management conversations. Today, they carry expectation and doubt in equal measure.

That, in many ways, is the story of the newer Indian Institutes of Management.

India now has 21 IIMs—with new campuses still being planned—which is a sign of how the system is pushing beyond its legacy strongholds.

While the likes of IIM Ahmedabad or Bangalore have enjoyed near-mythical status, built on decades of performance, the newer entrants, like IIM Amritsar, Kashipur or Visakhapatnam, have often been reduced to comparison. But, step inside these campuses, and the narrative feels different.

“There is a perceived divide,” admits Samir K. Srivastava, director of IIM Amritsar, “but it is more of an evolving landscape than a hierarchy.” His framing is telling. Instead of resisting comparison, newer IIMs are repositioning it. “The older IIMs have a learning curve advantage, experience, systems and infrastructure. Those are strengths we respect and learn from. But we bring fresh energy, agility and the ability to adapt quickly.”

At IIM Kashipur, director Neeraj Dwivedi offers a grounded perspective. “Having worked across institutes from Kozhikode to Indore, and after spending 15 years at Lucknow, I don’t see a major difference in how teaching is delivered,” he says.

Yes, he concedes, there may be “some variation in incoming student scores”, but quickly adds, “the potential here is strong and continues to grow.”

That shift is visible in classrooms as much as in placement reports. Case studies are as intense, peer learning as competitive and expectations just as high. The difference, perhaps, lies not in what is being taught, but in how urgently it is being reimagined.

Across campuses, there is a clear awareness that management education itself is at a crossroads. The traditional MBA, once thought to guarantee corporate success, is now being questioned and reshaped. “There is rising competition from the private sector and also a dip in the generic appeal of MBA programmes,” notes Dwivedi. “Students are looking for specialised courses, analytics, finance, AI and machine learning. Institutes that adapt will stay relevant.”

This is where newer IIMs seem to find their edge. Without the weight of legacy systems, they are often quicker to pivot. “There is eagerness to prove ourselves,” says Srivastava. “That allows us to experiment, adopt best practices from anywhere and design our own pathways.” It is an institutional mindset that mirrors the aspirations of the students they attract—restless, adaptive, unwilling to wait for validation.

Yet, the question of perception lingers. For many parents and even recruiters, brand recall still tilts in favour of older campuses. “Parents might not always interact with us directly, so perception takes time to evolve,” says Srivastava. “But once results start coming, people recognise the direction we are moving in.”

Placement season offers a window into this transition. At Kashipur, location has often been flagged as a disadvantage. But Dwivedi reframes it as a logistical challenge rather than a structural limitation. “We have managed through extra effort, taking students to hubs like Delhi and conducting interviews online. The gap can be bridged.”

It is this willingness to compensate through effort that stands out. The newer IIM story is not one of effortless success, but of deliberate, often strenuous, progress.

The IIM reputation is no longer sustained by legacy alone. As IIM Visakhapatnam director M. Chandrasekhar underlines, the brand’s strength today lies equally in its ability to evolve with changing industry and societal needs. “The IIM brand draws its strength from deep legacy and consistent outcomes, but it is being actively reinforced through executive education, global collaborations and flexible learning formats,” he says. “The divide (between old and new IIMs) today is only marginally academic and far less pronounced than perceived. Newer IIMs are steadily strengthening their capabilities and creating their own space.”

Academic rigour, pedagogy and curriculum have largely converged, aided by shared faculty networks and growing collaboration.

The proliferation of IIMs across regions—Punjab, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh—has made management education more accessible and geographically diverse. “It has expanded the base and increased visibility,” notes Srivastava. “It brings management education closer to more regions and more students.”

This democratisation is perhaps one of the least discussed but most significant aspects of the newer IIM story. For students who might not have had the means or opportunity to relocate far, these campuses offer access without dilution. And industry, it appears, is taking note.

“Over the past decade, institutions like ours have made significant strides in building strong, trust-based relationships with industry (including guest lectures),” says Ashok Banerjee, director, IIM Udaipur. “We have recently developed effective and meaningful industry engagements in three ways: (a) seeking input from industry on curriculum development, particularly the elective courses; (b) industry sponsoring four-month-long business projects for the students of one-year MBA programmes; (c) starting a unique corporate engagement programme, which is a new initiative where young faculty members spend up to two weeks with a specific department of a company that is aligned with the area of research of the faculty. The industry partners have appreciated the programme.”

All this seems to have helped. “There is no inherent credibility gap,” Srivastava insists. “The industry is open. Once you engage and demonstrate capability, opportunities follow.”

Chandrasekhar echoes this, pointing to increasing participation and improving role quality. Placement numbers, he argues, are only part of the picture; what matters equally is “sector diversity, role quality and long-term career progression”.

The emphasis, then, is slowly shifting from headline salaries to sustainable careers.

This is also reshaping how students themselves define success. Rankings and compensation still matter, but perhaps less as endpoints and more as indicators. “The more meaningful markers of success are role quality, entrepreneurial outcomes, research impact and how graduates perform over the course of their careers,” says Chandrasekhar. “The credibility gap is largely bridged. What evolves now is familiarity, as institutes build a stronger alumni base and track record.” He points to the institute’s work with senior civil servants and defence personnel as evidence of its growing national relevance.

Back on campus, this translates into a different kind of ambition. Students speak as much about startups and impact roles as they do about consulting offers. Incubation centres, innovation labs and cross-disciplinary courses are no longer add-ons; they are becoming central to the learning experience.

There is also a quieter, more human dimension to this journey. Dwivedi speaks about faculty retention not in terms of numbers, but environment. “We offer good infrastructure, incentives for research and a supportive campus environment,” he says. “We are also improving facilities continuously, like setting up a full-fledged medical centre, to ensure that the faculty feel valued and stay committed.”

It is a reminder that institutions are built not just on rankings, but on relationships between faculty and students, between campuses and communities. For students, the journey through these campuses often becomes a lesson in adaptability itself. “It is your character, your adaptability and your humility that will define your journey, not just your first job or salary,” Srivastava tells them.

It is advice that resonates beyond the classroom. In an uncertain job market, in an economy that is itself evolving, these qualities may well matter more than institutional pedigree.

There is also a generational shift at play. “Students today are more aware and future-ready,” Srivastava observes. “They understand the changing nature of work. Our role is to channel that awareness in the right direction.”

That awareness is visible in the choices they make, courses they pick, internships they pursue and the risks they are willing to take. It aligns, in many ways, with the ethos of the newer IIMs themselves—experimental, forward-looking and unafraid to redefine norms.

The hype around IIMs built over decades continues to draw students in. But hope and adaptability are increasingly being delivered by campuses that are still in the process of defining themselves.

“The intent is clear,” says Srivastava. “To differentiate, to stay relevant and to create meaningful impact in the years ahead.”

As the sun sets on campus, the students outside the placement office begin to disperse. Some head back to hostels, others to group discussions that will stretch late into the night.

These are, in some way, the first real ambassadors of these institutes, not defined by where they studied, but by what they go on to become.

And in that journey, the story of newer IIMs finds its most authentic expression: not as a footnote to legacy, but as a tale of its own making.