B-School Comparison: IIM Nagpur Vs IIM Vishakapatnam

They are a part of the next set of IIMs after 2010s group of IIMs including Shillong, Rohtak, and Udaipur, and are slowly catching pace.

In this report, I will try and bring out the differences (and similarities) between these two institutes, which should help you get a clear picture of what these institutes have to offer.

Note – All placement data presented pertains to the placement reports for the Class of 2018 unless specified otherwise.

Admission criteria:
The admission criteria for both IIM Nagpur and Visakhapatnam is more or less the same.  However, I will mention the various diversity points that distinguish both the institutions.

For IIM Nagpur, students who have work experience can claim a maximum of 10 points based on the months of work experience. You can also be awarded a maximum of 5 points based on your gender (0 for male, 4 for female, and 5 for transgender candidates) and 5 points for those who have completed their bachelor’s degree in any non-engineering subject.

For more information on the selection criteria for IIM Nagpur, click here.

As far as IIM Visakhapatnam is concerned, you can be awarded a maximum of 8 points depending on the months of work experience, and female candidates will be awarded 2 points from the gender diversity score.  
IIM Visakhapatnam also has a distinct scoring for their Phase 2 and 3 selection as mentioned below.

For the phase 2 selection, the weights for the five components are as follows:
CAT=40, 10th board=20, 12th board=10, Bachelor’s=20, Gender diversity=2, and Work experience=8.

For phase 3 selection, the weights for the components are as follows:
WAT=10, PI=30, CAT=25, 10th board=10, 12th board=5, Bachelor’s=10, and Weighted work experience=10.

For more information on the selection criteria for IIM Visakhapatnam, click here.

Course fees and placements:
In this section, I will present both the fees as well as the average and highest packages offered by the two institutes. This will help you gauge the ROI better.

Highlights from the Final Placements:
IIM Nagpur
- A total of 52 students of 54 sought for final placements from the institution.
- The average salary for placement offers at IIM Nagpur was Rs.12.11 LPA and the median salary was Rs. 12 LPA.
- Major roles offered were in Information Technology (40%), BFSI (19%), FMCG (10%), Logistics (10%), Consulting (11%), Engineering Technology (4%) and Education (2%) sectors.
- Bajaj Allianz, Tata Trusts, Wipro Technologies, ICICI Lombard, YES Bank, Tech Mahindra, Larsen&Turbo, Max Bupa Health Insurance, Bharat Petroleum, HCC and Group M were amongst the top recruiters.

IIM Visakhapatnam
- The total students eligible for placements were 45, and including PPOs, a total of 50 students received a placement from 42 recruiters.
- 18% of the students received PPO/PPIs. The average salary for the top quartile offers is Rs. 16.29 Lakhs per annum (LPA), and the top half is Rs. 14.14 LPA. The average salary for the batch is Rs. 12.07 LPA while the median stood at Rs. 11.70 LPA.
- Major roles offered were Sales & Marketing (44.4%), Consulting (11.1%) and General Management (8.9%). Other roles included Finance, Analytics and Strategy (20.1%), and, Product Management, FinTech and Operations (each 4.4%) and Human Resources (2.3%).
- Amul, HDFC Life, ICICI Lombard, Biocon, Reliance, Bosch, Ernst&Young, HSBC, Sutherland and Jindal Steel and Power were the top recruiters.


Batch strength:
The strength of a batch is an important factor to consider while selecting an institute. In the case of these two baby IIMs, the batch strength is very small but growing.

The data below is for the Class of 2018 and the Class of 2019.

IIM Visakhapatnam recently confirmed an increase in 40 seats for its upcoming batch.

Batch profile:
IIM Nagpur:
- The total batch for the 2017-2019 batch comprised of 57 students, of which 55 were male and 2 female students, with an average batch age of 25 years.
- The batch consisted of 7% freshers, and most of the students (44%) had 24-36% work experience, and 31% had more than 36 months of work experience.
- Most number of students were from an engineering background, of which the max concentration was that of Mechanical Engineering (21%), followed by Electrical Engineering (14%). There were only 2% of students from Commerce background.

IIM Visakhapatnam:
- The total batch size for PGP 2015-2017 comprised of 54 students, of which 4 were females and 50 were male students.
- 36 of the total students had previous work experience and 51 of the total were from an engineering background.

As current data for both these institutions have not been updated, we have not been able to make a more recent comparison.

Foreign exchange options:
Being recent IIMs, both IIM Nagpur & Visakhapatnam don’t have a foreign exchange programme yet.
However, IIM Visakhapatnam has an International Immersion Programme. It is a part of the ‘Business Planning and International Markets’ elective course in the second year of the programme and aims to give students a first-hand insight into the economic, social and cultural spheres of emerging economies. The batch of 2016 had the opportunities to work with companies like Volkswagen, Lenovo, Coco-Cola, Bao Steel who chose China, and they acquired first-hand knowledge from various industry experts.

Infrastructure:
Both these IIMs are currently set up in a temporary campus. IIM Visakhapatnam is set up inside the Andhra University campus. A separate building has been allotted for the management programme to start off, with spacious classrooms, conference rooms, and study areas. They are currently mentored by IIM Bangalore and work around a system similar to their mentor b-school.
The government of Andhra has allocated 241.50 acres land in the Gambheeram Village of Anandapuram Mandal to IIM Visakhapatnam. The blueprints and architects of the project are yet to be fixed and the institute should be functional by 2021.

IIM Nagpur is currently based in the VNIT Nagpur campus. Its permanent campus is yet to be sought after, but it has been allocated a spacious 135 acres for the construction. They are mentored by IIM Ahmedabad and follow similar curriculum patterns for academics and placements.

Campus life:
Campus life will become an integral part of the two years you will stay on campus. It is important to know the co-curricular clubs, events, and activities the institutes have, and if it makes a perfect fit for you.

IIM Nagpur:
With over 10 clubs already, IIM N has a committee for every kind of student. Right from the media cell, they have a marketing club called MARX, Finesse - the finance club, an operations club called OPEX, an E cell, Abhyudaya - the cultural club, a sports club, an analytics club called Predixion, and a community outreach club called Umeed, along with a Toastmaster International club. The students are involved in making the campus life more engaging with every passing day.

IIM Visakhapatnam:
Just like Nagpur, IIM Visag has a number of clubs and committees to keep its students engaged. They have interests and hobbies cell called ZORBA, a consulting club, Entrepreneurial Passion and Innovation Club (EPIC), an Information Technology club, an art club called ARTquake, Vatsalya - the social activities club, and a sports club.    

IIM Visag also has its own cultural festival, Samaarambh, which saw participation from 20 b-schools in its first year (2017). They held event competitions for singing, dance and drama, and the day-long cultural fest also hosted a stand-up comedy performance by Shridhar Venkataramana and a rock show by Underground Authority.

The entrepreneurship cell also hosted a conclave, Exordia, and Vatsaly, the social activities club organized the event ‘Zariya’ to motivate the kids of an NGO. They are also working on an inspirational series called ‘Humans of Visakhapatnam’. The art club too organizes various weekend activities to keep the daily stresses of a b-school at bay and IIM-V also held an event called Ground Zero Day for the members of all the clubs to participate and compete in various events.   

Location:
Nagpur is known as the winter capital of Maharashtra and is the third largest city in the state. While there are no must-see spots, the city was once a brimming mine for fossils and buried Mughal weaponry that now ornates the city museum. It is also an important gateway to several of Maharashtra’s natural reserves and wildlife parks, including Pench National Park and Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve. The summers are famed for the fragrant and tangy Nagpur oranges.
The city can be easily accessed by air, rail, and roadways, and is a developing smart city.

Visakhapatnam, on the other hand, is a fast-growing city and was chosen to become one of the smart cities of the country under PM Modi’s plan. The port city is also the industrial capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh and is known for its beaches and historical maritime exhibits. The city is best accessed by air and railways.   

It is clear that both these IIMs are yet in their crawling stages being established only a couple of years ago, but they are taking bigger steps with each passing batch. With 100% placements, top recruiters, newer clubs, iconic IIM mentors like IIM A & B and a fully-functional campus that will open its doors in the 2020s, IIM Nagpur and Visakhapatnam will soon be ranked alongside the other fellow IIMs. Amongst the new IIMs, IIM Nagpur and IIM Visakhapatnam are sure to grow exponentially in the coming years and it would be sensible to choose either of the two and get that IIM tag, especially if you are a fresher.