New Delhi: The 22nd Indian Institute of Management (IIM) will be established in Guwahati with an investment of Rs 555 crore, after Parliament cleared the Indian Institutes of Management (Amendment) Bill, 2025. The bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha through a voice vote, following its approval in the Lok Sabha, and will now be sent for Presidential assent. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stated that the new IIM will begin admitting students starting from the current academic year itself.

Pradhan emphasised that this will be the ninth IIM established since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014. He noted that between 1961 and 2014, only 13 IIMs were created, while today the number of students across all IIMs has grown from 3,500 in 2013-14 to approximately 9,800 in 2024-25, demonstrating the government’s commitment to expanding higher education opportunities. The 2017 legislation elevated IIMs to the status of institutions of national importance, allowing them to award degrees and function like full-fledged universities, an elevation that the new IIM-Guwahati will also hold.

The establishment of IIM-Guwahati is part of the special development package for Assam. Pradhan criticised the previous government’s neglect of Assam between 2004 and 2014, attributing it to a lack of decision-making power by then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He also highlighted steps to internationalise education in India, mentioning the permission granted to 15 foreign universities to open campuses in the country, and the establishment of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) abroad.

During the parliamentary debate, opposition members raised concerns about vacant faculty posts in IIMs and rising student suicides, urging the government to address these issues. Several members called for the establishment of more IIMs in different states, such as Odisha, Telangana, and Hyderabad, and requested priority admission for students from the Northeast in the new Guwahati institute. Many highlighted the importance of education spreading across India and the country’s vision to make IIMs and IITs global education destinations.

The unanimous passage of the bill marks a significant step toward developing Assam and the entire Northeast, expanding access to quality management education, and strengthening India’s position as a growing economic power.

With inputs from PTI