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IIM-Ahmedabad vs Harvard: What ₹25 lakh vs ₹1.8 crore actually gets you
Abhijay Arora, a Harvard MBA graduate, sat down with content creator Kushal Lodha to compare and contrast his alma mater with IIM-A.
How much does it cost to do an MBA from India’s top business school versus one from the world’s top business school? What is the average salary after graduation? These are other differences between Harvard and IIM-Ahmedabad were discussed in a video that is going viral online.
Abhijay Arora, a Harvard MBA graduate who is currently working at Google, sat down with content creator Kushal Lodha to compare and contrast his alma mater with IIM-Ahmedabad.
IIM-A vs Harvard Business School
The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad is regarded as India’s top B-school, and is also among its oldest. Established in 1961, it is often referred to as the Harvard Business School of India.
Notable IIM-A alumni include Raghuram Rajan, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Falguni Nayar, KV Kamath and many more.
On the other hand, Harvard Business School (HBS) in USA is consistently ranked among the world's best business schools, often at the first or second spot globally alongside Stanford and Wharton. It has produced notable alumni like Ray Dalio, Rahul Bajaj, Jamie Dimon and Anand Mahinda, among others.
Salary, fee and other differences
Arora and Lodha compared the two business schools on several parameters. First came the cost of obtaining a degree. According to Arora, an MBA from Harvard will cost roughly $200,000 — which is approximately ₹1.8 crore. On the other hand, an MBA from IIM-A can be done at a fraction of the cost — roughly ₹25 lakh.
However, the average pay package after graduation also differs widely. IIM-A graduates can expect to earn an average salary of ₹34 lakh after graduation. At Harvard Business School, getting an MBA degree can land you an average pay package of $250,000 — which is around ₹2.25 crore.
The internship stipend at IIM-A is usually around ₹2 to 3 lakh, depending on the company. In the US, a Harvard Business School student doing an internship can expect to earn a $10,000 stipend, which is around ₹9 lakh.
The similarities
There are also some similarities between IIM Ahmedabad and Harvard. The MBA program at both institutes takes two years to complete. After graduation, the job market is also similar — one can land jobs in fields like private equity, venture capital, product management and HR.
The video has been going steadily viral online and has racked up thousands of comments from people keen to understand what it takes to get into Harvard.
(Also read: IIM-Ahmedabad students ordered over 60,000 print-outs via Blinkit in 2025)
