IPMAT Guide

IPMAT Indore vs IPMAT Rohtak: which one is actually for you?

Most comparisons stop at "Indore is harder". The differences that decide your result are elsewhere — one counts your board marks for 30% and the other ignores them entirely, one reads all your subjects and the other only your best five, and one has no reasoning section at all.

At a glance The exam How you're selected Eligibility Seats & fees Placements Which to target FAQs

By Mukesh Jain, founder, The IPM Labs · IIM Ahmedabad (AIB) & NIT Jaipur alumnus · Last updated 24 Sep 2026

At a glance

Both are five-year integrated programmes at an IIM, both end in an MBA-equivalent degree, and both take students straight out of Class 12. Everything below is from the institutes' own 2026-cycle documents.

	IPMAT Indore	IPMAT Rohtak
Seats	150	198
Fee, years 1–3	₹6,00,000 a year	₹6,22,045 a year
Fee, years 4–5	Same as that year's PGP fee	Same as that year's PGP fee
Test sections	Quant (MCQ), Quant (short answer), Verbal	Quant, Logical Reasoning, Verbal
Reasoning section	None	Yes
Timing	40 minutes per section, sectional	120 minutes for the whole paper
Negative marking	−1, except the short-answer section	−1 in every section
Board marks in selection	Nothing	30%
Interview	35% of the final score	15% of the final score
Board % counted as	Aggregate of all subjects	Aggregate of best five subjects

Swipe the table sideways to see all columns →

The exam is a different shape, not just a different difficulty

People describe Indore as the harder paper. That is not quite the point — the two exams reward different things.

Indore splits quant in two

One multiple-choice quant section and one short-answer section where you type the answer with no options to work backwards from. Verbal is the third section. Each gets its own 40 minutes, so you cannot borrow time from a section you find easy.

Rohtak is one clock

Quant, Logical Reasoning and Verbal — 40 questions each, 120 questions in 120 minutes, all multiple choice, with no separate section timers. Managing that single clock is its own skill.

Reasoning only matters at Rohtak

Indore has no reasoning section. If you are preparing only for Indore, Logical Reasoning is not on your syllabus at all — and if you are preparing for both, it is a third of the Rohtak paper you cannot skip.

One section has no penalty

Indore's short-answer quant carries no negative marking. A considered guess there is free. Every other section in both exams takes a mark off for a wrong answer.

At Indore, verbal is worth 50% of your aptitude test score — the two quant sections are 25% each. Students who treat verbal as the section to survive are giving away half the paper before they start.

How you're selected — the difference that decides most outcomes

This is the part that should shape your target list, and it is published by both institutes.

Component	IIM Indore	IIM Rohtak
Aptitude test score	65%	55%
Personal interview	35%	15%
Class XII marks	—	20%
Class X marks	—	10%

Weak boards? Indore forgives them

Your Class X and XII marks carry no weight in IIM Indore's final merit list. You still need to meet the eligibility bar, but after that the exam and the interview decide everything.

Strong boards? Rohtak pays you for them

Thirty per cent of the Rohtak result is already sitting in your marksheets. If you have scored well, that is a third of the job done before you enter the exam hall.

Indore's interview is heavy

At 35%, more than a third of the Indore decision happens after the written exam. Starting interview preparation when the shortlist appears leaves a few weeks for a third of the marks.

Neither institute publishes a cut-off before the exam. IIM Indore states that section cut-offs are "decided by the Admissions Committee" after the results, by category. Plan against the weightages above, not against a predicted score.

Eligibility — and the subject rule almost nobody mentions

The headline requirements look similar. The way your percentage is calculated is not.

	IPMAT Indore	IPMAT Rohtak
Percentage calculated on	Aggregate of all subjects in X and XII	Aggregate of any best five subjects in X and XII
Minimum marks	None stated in the 2026 admission procedure	60% in X and XII (55% for SC, ST and DAP)
Age limit	Born on or after 1 Aug 2006 for the 2026 batch; five-year relaxation for SC, ST and PwD	Maximum 20 years as of 30 June 2026; 25 for SC and ST
Year of passing XII	2024, 2025, or appearing in 2026	Per the current notification

Read the first row again. One weak subject — a language you struggled with, an elective that went wrong — pulls your Indore percentage down and is simply dropped at Rohtak. The same marksheet can produce two different percentages, and at Rohtak that number is also worth 30% of the final decision.

Year-of-passing windows and age cut-off dates move with each cycle. The rows above are the 2026 rules; check the current notification when the 2027 cycle opens.

Seats and fees

Two things here surprise most people.

Rohtak has more seats

198 for the 2026–31 batch, against 150 at Indore. Rohtak is the larger programme, not the smaller one.

Rohtak costs slightly more

₹6,22,045 a year against ₹6,00,000 at Indore for years 1–3. Close, but not the discount people assume. Both charge the prevailing PGP fee in years 4 and 5.

Budget beyond the tuition

Both add charges on top — study material, development fees, and refundable deposits. At Rohtak these come to ₹64,000 in the first year. Indore's first-term total including other charges is ₹7,04,679.

Fees are from each institute's published 2026 structure and are revised periodically. Confirm the current figures on the official pages before making a financial decision.

Placements

From each institute's official 2026 final placement report. Note that the Indore figures cover its MBA and Dual Degree (IPM) candidates together.

	IIM Indore 2026	IIM Rohtak 2026
Average package	₹27.3 LPA	₹20.03 LPA
Median package	₹25 LPA	₹18 LPA
Highest package	₹82.5 LPA	₹37 LPA
Recruiters	240+	213

IIM Indore's 2026 report gives no final placement percentage. IIM Rohtak reports 100% of eligible students placed from a PGP batch of 303. These are the outcomes of students graduating now, five years after they sat the exam — treat them as a guide to the institutes, not a promise about your own batch.

So which should you target?

For most students the honest answer is both — the exams are close enough in syllabus that preparing for one carries you most of the way to the other, and two attempts beat one. The question is really where your extra hours should go.

Lean Indore if…

your board marks are average or weak, you are comfortable being interviewed, and you can handle quant without options to fall back on. Nothing in your marksheet follows you into the Indore merit list.

Lean Rohtak if…

your boards are strong, especially Class XII, and you are good at reasoning. You arrive with 30% already banked, and the best-five rule may lift your percentage further.

Add Logical Reasoning either way

It is a full section at Rohtak and it also appears in JIPMAT. Preparing only for Indore closes doors that cost little to keep open.

Do not skip verbal

It is half the Indore aptitude score and a full section at Rohtak. It is the most common place strong quant students lose the seat.

Preparing for IPMAT 2027?

Alpha is a live batch of 25 students. Every class is taught live by dedicated, experienced faculty who are IIM and IIT alumni. Talk to us first — no pressure to enrol.

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Frequently asked questions

Is IPMAT Rohtak easier than IPMAT Indore?

They are differently shaped rather than simply easier or harder. Rohtak is all multiple choice with one 120-minute clock and includes a reasoning section. Indore has sectional 40-minute timing and a short-answer quant section with no options, which many students find the harder format. Indore also has fewer seats.

Can I prepare for both together?

Yes, and most serious candidates do. Quant and verbal overlap heavily. The additions are Logical Reasoning for Rohtak and practice at answering quant without options for Indore.

Do my board marks matter?

At IIM Rohtak, 30% of the final score — Class XII 20% and Class X 10%. At IIM Indore, nothing: its 2026 admission procedure sets no minimum percentage, only that you have passed Class X and meet the Class XII and age rules. Rohtak also requires at least 60% in X and XII (55% for SC, ST and DAP).

Which has more seats?

IIM Rohtak, with 198 for the 2026–31 batch against 150 at IIM Indore.

Is one cheaper?

Indore is marginally cheaper for years 1–3: ₹6,00,000 a year against ₹6,22,045. Both charge the prevailing PGP fee for years 4 and 5, and both add other charges on top.

Do I need Maths in Class 12?

Neither institute's 2026 admission document lists Class 12 Mathematics as a requirement. The quant itself draws mostly on Class 9–10 maths with some Class 11–12 topics, so students without Maths can and do clear these exams — they usually need more time on algebra.

Official sources

Every figure on this page comes from these documents. Where an institute does not publish something, this page says so rather than filling the gap.

The IPM Labs is an independent institute and is not affiliated with any IIM. Figures are from the 2026 admission cycle, the most recent published at the time of writing; seats, fees, age limits and year-of-passing windows change between cycles, so always confirm against the current official notification before making a decision.