Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad PG Programme in Agri-business Management 2010

Rules for conversion of CGPA, for computation of percentage scored and for the candidates appearing in the final year of qualifying examination would be same as mentioned above in the minimum eligibility criterion for admission to PGP for all IIMs. Students who are in the final year of their bachelor’s degree education and may have to go back to complete their examination formalities during June 2011 will be granted special leave for this purpose

Please refer to www.catiim.in and in the IIMA programme details (http://202.41.76.11/download/IIMAProfile.pdf), the provisional admission of students who do not complete all their examination formalities on or before June 30, 2011 will be cancelled. Under no circumstances will an extension of this date of June 30, 2011 be granted

You are required to produce the mark sheet and a certificate on or before 31st December, 2011 of having passed the bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification. The admission will be confirmed only when you submit the mark sheet and a certificate of having passed the bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification as mentioned in the certificate issued by the Principal/Registrar with at least 50% marks (45% in case of candidates belonging to SC/ST/PwD category), under no circumstances the deadline of December 31, 2011 will be extended

Students who are identified by the interview committee for attending the preparatory programme are expected to attend the programme which will start during the end of May 2011. The preparatory programme provides special inputs in Mathematics, Communication and Information Technology, and is designed to enable the students to prepare themselves for the first year of the PGP-ABM programme (students who are in the final year of their bachelor’s degree education and need to go back to complete their examination formalities during June will be granted special leave from the preparatory programme), the first year’s curriculum is compulsory and is same as that of PGP. In addition, there is a special course on Rural Environment and Institutions designed to familiarize the students with the sectoral environment. After the end of the first year, students will undergo the first phase of Rural Immersion Module and subsequently, work in an organization engaged in agri-business on a summer assignment lasting eight weeks

The second year of the programme is designed to impart specialized multi-functional knowledge and innovative skills required by agri-business managers for excellence in planning, decision-making, organization and implementation in the sector and in its sub-sectors. The second year courses also provide the students with an opportunity to pursue areas of special interest to them. The second year includes compulsory courses in agri-business management, a few compulsory courses in general management, and elective courses

Diploma: The graduate of PGP-ABM are awarded the post graduate diploma in Agri-Business Management

Placement: PGP-ABM graduates will be assisted in finding suitable placements in organizations engaged in agri-business, food, agriculture and allied sectors. Excellent opportunities are available for careers in upcoming agribusiness sectors like retail management, micro finance, agricultural input companies, food processing industries, rural marketing, international agricultural trade, commodity exchanges, rural financial institutions, market research in agribusiness and NGOs engaged in rural development

How to apply: Every year, IIM-A selects about 300 to 350 students from among the over 2,00,000 candidates who apply to the PGP and PGP-ABM Programme of the Institute. The admission process consists of the nationally administered Common Admission Test (CAT), and subsequent rounds of GDPI. The students are selected on the basis of their CAT scores, past academic performance and performance in the interviews. Selected students have scholastic achievements in disciplines such as arts, commerce, science and professional streams such as engineering, technology and medicine. PGP-ABM students have scholastic achievements in disciplines such as agriculture, agriculture related areas like Food, Dairy, and Agricultural Engineering and allied sciences. PGP-ABM is open to non-agricultural graduates also provided they are able to demonstrate their interest in agri-business. Many of them also have achievements in extra-curricular and organisational activities. Some of the qualities that characterise past students are high levels of initiative and energy, capacity for hard work, strong task orientation, willingness to learn, and a temperament suitable for teamwork. The PGP and PGP-ABM classes have had a mix of fresh graduates and persons with work experience

Admission procedure: Selection for PGP-ABM is done through a two-stage process. First, candidates have to appear for the Common Admission Test (CAT) will be held on 20 days between October 27 and November 23, 2010. The CAT has questions that evaluate the quantitative, language and data interpretation abilities of the candidate. The applicants are then short-listed and called for a group discussion and personal interview. The applicant’s past academic record/achievements, understanding of agriculture and allied sectors, work experience and other relevant activities are also taken into consideration. Every year, the typical timeline for the admission process is as follows

CAT advertisement in national newspapers and CAT electronic bulletin on the website: Last Sunday of August, 2010

CAT examination: October end to November, 2010

Group discussion and personnel interview: February-March 2011

Session starts: June 2011

CAT coupons can be obtained from the designated Banks and it will be notified in CAT advertisement which is likely to appear on 29th August, 2010