The proposed IIM Bill 2015 proposes to grant statutory status to thirteen existing Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) at Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Indore, Kozhikode, Shillong, Raipur, Ranchi, Rohtak, Kashipur, Tiruchirapalli and Udaipur, and declare them as Institutions of National Importance, to enable them to grant degrees to their students in the academic courses conducted by these institutes.

Till now, these Institutions could award only certificate, Post Graduate Diploma and Fellow Programme in Management Certificate, which lacked universal acceptability in the field of academia and research. The Post-graduate Diploma in Management Programme was relatively unaffected by absence of a formal degree, both in terms of recruitment of students as well as suitable placements in job market but the Fellow Programme in Management did not get the same status as that of a Ph.D. in the job market, especially in faculty appointments.

As a result, the Fellow Programme in Management (equivalent to Ph.D), without the formal degree stamp, has not, been able to attract talented students, required to develop a strong research base in the country in the field of management education and also address the faculty shortages affecting the management institutions in the country. The proposed Bill will address this gap.

Draft bill can be downloaded from here.