UDAIPUR, India, June 24, 2026 -- The Indian Institute of Management Udaipur (IIM Udaipur) formally inaugurated the 15th batch of its flagship Two-Year MBA Program (2026–28), welcoming 378 talented students from diverse academic, professional, and geographical backgrounds. The inauguration ceremony marked the beginning of an important academic journey for the incoming cohort and reaffirmed the Institute's commitment to nurturing future-ready leaders capable of driving meaningful impact across industries and society.
The Program commenced with a welcome address by Prof. Ujjwal Das, Chairperson, Two-Year MBA Program Committee, who introduced the incoming batch to the Institute's academic philosophy, values, and expectations. He emphasized the transformative nature of the MBA experience and encouraged students to make the most of the opportunities available at IIM Udaipur.
Addressing the gathering, Prof. Vijayta Doshi, Dean – Programs, highlighted the importance of continuous learning, adaptability, and responsible leadership in an increasingly dynamic business environment. She encouraged students to embrace intellectual curiosity, collaborate across diverse perspectives, and contribute meaningfully to the Institute community.
The inaugural address was delivered by the Chief Guest, Mr. Ganesh Krishnan, renowned serial entrepreneur and promoter of successful ventures including BigBasket, Bluestone, HomeLane, Portea Medical, and GrowthStory.in. Sharing insights from his entrepreneurial journey, Mr. Krishnan spoke about the importance of resilience, innovation, customer-centricity, and the courage to pursue unconventional ideas. He urged students to remain curious, embrace challenges, and leverage emerging opportunities to create sustainable value in an evolving global economy.
In his address, Prof. Ashok Banerjee, Director, IIM Udaipur, welcomed the incoming cohort and reflected on the Institute's vision of developing responsible leaders who combine analytical rigor with ethical decision-making. He encouraged students to take advantage of IIM Udaipur's research-driven learning environment, global outlook, and collaborative culture to maximize their personal and professional growth.
The incoming MBA 2026–28 batch at IIM Udaipur comprises 378 students, representing a diverse mix of academic disciplines, professional backgrounds, and experiences. The cohort reflects the Institute's continued commitment to building a vibrant and inclusive learning environment that enriches classroom discussions and peer learning.
A notable feature of the batch is its strong academic diversity, with 56.87% of students coming from non-engineering backgrounds. Students hail from a wide range of fields, bringing varied perspectives and experiences to the classroom.
The batch also demonstrates remarkable progress in gender diversity, with women constituting 65.87% of the cohort, while male students account for 34.12%. This balanced representation underscores IIM Udaipur's efforts to encourage greater participation of women in management education and leadership development.
The cohort brings together both fresh graduates and young professionals, creating a dynamic mix of perspectives. 40.47% of students of the batch possess prior work experience, enabling a rich exchange of ideas between those entering management education directly from academia and those bringing insights from industry.
With an average age of 23.46 years, the MBA 2026–28 cohort represents a talented group of future managers and leaders who are poised to benefit from IIM Udaipur's rigorous academic environment, research-driven pedagogy, and industry engagement. The diversity of the batch is expected to contribute significantly to collaborative learning, innovation, and leadership development throughout the Program.
The inauguration ceremony also celebrated academic excellence with the distribution of scholastic awards for outstanding performance across the three terms of the first year:
Term I:
Abhishek Bhattacherjee, Yash Sharma, Amritanshu Tripathi, Kishan Agarwal, and Girdhar Gopal
Term II:
Abhishek Bhattacherjee, Dhruv Nijhawan, Amritanshu Tripathi, Harit Honey, and Girdhar Gopal
Additionally, the Director's Awards were presented to several students for their exemplary performance:
Abhishek Bhattacherjee, Amritanshu Tripathi, Kishan Agarwal, Subhadeep Kuila, Dhruv Nijhawan, Girdhar Gopal, Harsh Bathija, Harit Honey, Shubhangi Gupta, Shricharan Arumugam, Manav S Zaveri, Shashank Kumar, Pradhan Prathamesh Aniket, Rajat Nebhnani, Surabhi Paliwal, Yashvee Dipak Kumar Patel, Rupapara Paavan Tansukhbhai, and Devashish Jose.
The event concluded with a vote of thanks delivered by Prof. Avijit Raychaudhuri, Member, Two-Year MBA Program Committee, who expressed gratitude to the dignitaries, faculty members, staff, students, and guests for their participation in the inaugural ceremony.
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