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IIM Guwahati to start academic session this year: Dharmendra Pradhan
Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan moved the bill in Rajya Sabha for consideration and passing when the Upper House reassembled at 2 pm
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New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed The Indian Institutes of Management (Amendment) Bill, 2025, paving the way for the establishment of a new Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Guwahati, Assam. The bill, cleared by the Lok Sabha a day earlier, designates IIM Guwahati as the country’s 22nd IIM under the Indian Institutes of Management Act, 2017, granting it the status of an ‘institution of national importance.’
Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan moved the bill for consideration and passing when the Upper House reassembled at 2 pm under the chairmanship of Bhubaneswar Kalita, after repeated adjournments earlier in the day.
“...We want to assure the countrymen and especially the people of Assam that IIM Guwahati will admit students from this academic session. Faculties will be appointed and academic activities will also start,” Pradhan said while introducing the bill in Rajya Sabha.
BJP MPs including Geeta alias Chandraprabha, Rambhai Harjibhai Mokariya, Naresh Bansal, K. Laxman and Kanad Purkayastha, along with members from other parties such as Golla Baburao (YSRCP), Niranjan Bishi (BJD), Thambidurai (AIADMK), Praful Patel (NCP) and Ravi Chandra Vaddiraju (BRS), Ramji (BSP) spoke in support of the bill to establish Assam’s first IIM.
Replying to the discussion on the bill, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the Indian Institutes of Management have been functioning as premier management institutions since 1961. “In the 53 years from 1961 to 2014, only 13 IIMs were set up. With the addition of IIM Guwahati, the number of IIMs set up under the Modi government in 11 years will rise to 9,” he said.
Highlighting the government’s efforts to expand opportunities for youth, Pradhan noted that the student strength across IIMs has nearly tripled—from 3,500 in 2013-14 to 9,800 in 2024-25.
He also pointed out that with the enactment of the Indian Institutes of Management Act, 2017, all IIMs were granted the status of Institutions of National Importance and began functioning as full-fledged universities.
Pradhan said that an amount of ₹555 crore will be given for functioning of IIM Guwahati over five years from 2025-26 to 2029-30, covering both recurring and non-recurring expenses, after which the institute is expected to become self-sustaining.
The bill was passed by voice vote in Rajya Sabha.
India currently has 21 IIMs, including IIM Shillong in Meghalaya. Once established, IIM Guwahati will become the 22nd IIM and the second in the North-East. Guwahati already hosts leading higher education institutions such as Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and National Law University (NLU), making the city an education hub.
