The Indian Institute of Management, sometimes known as IIM, is a group of 20 (as of May 21, 2018) completely independent institutions that provide management education and research throughout India. These cutting-edge management schools are designed to teach some of the best minds in the nation in management skills through a variety of postgraduate courses they provide.The sole factors that unite these six prestigious management schools are their superior management education delivery and the shared entrance exam, called CAT (Common Admission Test) in colloquial use.

On the advice of the Indian Planning Commission, the first Prime Minister of India, Shri. Jawaharlal Nehru, took the initiative to create the IIMs. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and a small group of other highly motivated industrialists were the first to recognise the importance of agriculture, education, health, transportation, population control, energy, and public administration in a developing society and the need to meaningfully connect these sectors with industry in order to achieve rapid and sustained economic growth.The first IIM opened in Ahmedabad in 1961 with the government of India, the government of Gujarat, and business working together actively. Five additional IIMs opened across India, all of which were completely independent.

According to the Indian Societies Registration Act, IIMs are registered as societies. Each IIM is autonomous and has separate authority over its daily activities. The IIM council, however, is concerned with how each IIM is run. The IIM Council is led by the Union HRD Minister and is made up of the directors and chairs of all IIMs as well as top government of India officials from the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

To improve their students’ managerial skills, these highly regarded management colleges of national importance provide a variety of postgraduate and certificate programmes. The flagship curriculum for all IIMs is the two-year Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP), which offers the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM). These postgraduate certificate programmes are viewed as being equal to standard MBA programmes. For graduates with greater professional experience, certain IIMs additionally provide a one-year Post Graduate Diploma Programme. The Fellow Programme in Management (FPM), a doctorate programme, is provided by several IIMs. Globally, the Fellowship is regarded as being equal to a PhD. The majority of IIMs also provide part-time programmes and short-term executive education/EMBA courses. Some IIMs also offer distinctive programmes, such as the  Three Year Working Managers’ Program at IIM Lucknow and the Five Year Integrated Programme in Management at IIM Indore.

The Indian Institute of Management Bill, 2017, which designates IIMs as Institutes of National Importance and empowers them to offer degrees as well as many other significant reforms to the institution, was passed by the Union Cabinet on January 24, 2017. The Lok Sabha approved the IIM bill on July 28, 2017, and the Rajya Sabha approved it on December 19, 2017. The IIM bill was approved by the president and became law on December 31, 2017.