IIFT Kolkata Admission 2024: Dates, Eligibility, Application Process

Final selection to MBA is subject to a valid score in the IIFT Entrance Exam followed by WAT-GD/PI rounds of selection. The shortlisting of candidates for WAT-GD/Extempore-PI is done based on the IIFT entrance exam percentile including the sectional cutoffs. The weightage aligned to different factors used for shortlisting candidates is as follows:

IIFT Kolkata is a public Institute that follows the reservation policy set by the Govt. of India, which is as follows:

NOTE: This reservation criteria detail is sourced from unofficial sources. Hence, is indicative. 

The total fee for MBA in International Business at IIFT Kolkata is INR 20.97 lakh. This fee is inclusive of components, namely tuition, library, internet, medical insurance, course material, hostel charges (for double occupancy, boarding charges, students and alumni activity. The students of SC, ST and PWD categories are given 50% concession in the tuition fee. If the student opts for single or triple occupancy accommodation, the aforementioned fee will vary. Having said that, this fee was for the academic year 2022-23, the exact amount of the total fee applicable for the MBA (IB) 2023-25 batch is only informed to the students when they are provided with the offer letters.

For admission to MBA in IB, candidates are shortlisted on the basis of Computer Based Test (IIFT entrance exam). Those who clear all the sectional and overall cutoffs get shortlisted for the second round of the admission process. The sectional and overall cutoffs required for the next round are as follows:

Indian Institute for Foreign Trade is a pioneer institute in the country to study Foreign Trade. There are four IIFTs in the world, of which three are situated in India (Delhi, Kolkata and Kakinada), and one is in Tanzania. But in those four, two of the most popular ones include IIFT Delhi and IIFT Kolkata. Talking about the difficulty level of the exam, the Quantitative Aptitude section of IIFT is comparatively tough if compared with CAT (this section is moderately tough in CAT). Hence, for some candidates, IIFT comes across as a tougher exam. Additionally, the IIFT entrance exam is inclusive of a General Knowledge section which is not part of the CAT exam. Since CAT is considered the top-notch level exam for MBA admission in India, candidates can read more about CAT vs IIFT here.

As per the details collated from various sources on the internet, about 140 seats are allocated for MBA in International Business at IIFT Kolkata. Admission to IIFT Kolkata’s full-time MBA (IB) programme 2023-25 is subject to IIFT’s Written Examination scores along with students’ performance in the Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD) or Extempore and Personal Interview (PI) scores. The final selection process also incorporates academic consistency, academic diversity, gender diversity and work experience.

According to official sources, IIFT Kolkata concluded its placement drive for the year 2021-23 batch. As per the report, the highest domestic and international package (for overall placements of IIFT campuses) stood at INR 75.6 LPA and INR 85.4 LPA. Further, the average and median package offered during IIFT Kolkata placements 2023 was INR 29.1 LPA and INR 26.5 LPA, respectively. A total of 108 recruiters with 36 new recruiters participated during placements in 2023. Major giants participated during placements including Amazon, Flipkart, Amul, EY, Infosys, etc. This placements and salary data, however, is overall for all the IIFT campuses since there is no update on campus-wise placements data.

 Admission to PhD at IIFT Kolkata is a two-stage process. Both of these are mentioned below:

• Stage I: All the eligible candidates are called for an MCQ-based written entrance test comprising of basic statistics, logical reasoning, data interpretation, basic mathematics (up to Class 12) and verbal ability

• Stage II: Candidates who clear the stage I (the written entrance test) will be called for the Personal Interview (PI)

Qualified candidates of UGC NET-JRF are exempted from the Written Entrance Examination and are called for interviews on the basis of their scores in

UGC NET-JRF exam. A separate list is released for the candidates shortlisted via this admission process

The IIFT entrance exam is a common aptitude test conducted for admission to MBA in International Business course offered by the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Delhi, Kolkata and Kakinada. National Testing Agency (NTA) conducts the IIFT exam on behalf of the institute. The following table provides all the details regarding IIFT entrance exam:

The final cutoffs for admission to the MBA-IB 2023-24 batch is not out yet. However, the final cutoffs for IIFT admission 2022 were released along with the final merit list in May 2022. Check the table below for category-wise final IIFT cut-offs 2022:

The IIFT overall cutoff in 2022 was lower for the General/ General-EWS / OBC-NCL categories and higher for SC / ST/ PwD / Kashmiri Migrants / Non-Migrants categories compared to the year 2021. A year-wise comparison of the same is tabulated below:

To apply to EPGD-IB, candidates must hold a bachelor’s degree in any stream from a recognised university with at least five years of work experience. Candidates holding a master’s/ Engineering degree with a minimum three-year work experience can also apply. Additionally, students must have at least 55% aggregate for admission to the EPGD-IB programme and only managerial work experience until March 31 of the year of admission is considered. There is no age limit.

IIFT Kolkata offers PhD across two specialisations, namely Management and Economics. Both these specialisations along with their eligibility requirements are tabulated below: