India’s top-ranked business school, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), will open its first international campus in Dubai in September 2025, with the cost of its flagship one-year MBA pegged at $80,000 (Dh294,000) — an all-inclusive fee that covers tuition, visa, insurance, and campus facilities.
In an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times, Professor Bharat Bhasker, Director of IIM Ahmedabad, said: “The programme fee for the one-year MBA at IIMA Dubai is $80,000 (including tuition fees, books, course material, visa fees, medical insurance and use of other facilities like library, network, and campus infrastructure). We offer entry and exit scholarships based on merit to all students.”
IIMA is currently ranked 27th in the QS Global MBA Rankings, and its inaugural cohort at the international branch campus will consist of 40 to 50 students, with plans to scale up to 900 students over the next decade.
The new campus will be housed at Dubai International Academic City (DIAC) in its initial phase, offering a multicultural academic hub. A permanent campus is set to open by 2029, on land allocated as part of the collaboration between the UAE and India.
The announcement followed a high-profile visit in April by a UAE delegation led by Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. During the visit, an MoU was signed between Bhasker and Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism, marking a milestone in bilateral education cooperation.
IIMA plans to launch two key research centres in the first year of its Dubai operations.
“In the first year of the Dubai Campus, we plan to establish two dedicated research centres — one will focus on case writing and development, and the other will be on start-up incubation,” said Bhasker. “As the campus grows, we aim to expand our offerings to include a wider range of programmes, including Open Enrolment and Customised Executive Education Programmes.”
Long-term, the institute plans to align research with Dubai’s D33 economic agenda, with specialised centres in fintech, AI, retail, and supply chain. IIMA is also exploring partnerships with local technology labs working on Artificial Intelligence and robotics.
Applications for the full-time, one-year MBA in Dubai are open until July 31. The admission process is highly selective, following a two-stage evaluation based on valid GMAT or GRE scores taken within the past five years. “The candidates will require a minimum of four years of full-time work experience after graduation,” Bhasker added.
The Dubai MBA will closely resemble IIMA’s globally respected MBA for Executives (PGPX) in India, which has been running for two decades and was recently ranked #1 in Career Progress by the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2025.
“The programme will be similar to the MBA-PGPX in India, which has been successfully running for two decades and has achieved global recognition. Furthermore, IIM Ahmedabad faculty will teach the first batch in Dubai. Over time, full-time faculty will also be recruited at the Dubai Campus,” said Bhasker.
Students will follow a five-term structure, undertake an independent research project, and have the option for international immersion, all designed to provide hands-on exposure to management in different global contexts.
“Our first full-time one-year MBA programme for the Dubai campus is designed to cater to the advanced management learning and upskilling needs of global working professionals and entrepreneurs,” added the Director of IIM Ahmedabad.
“This immersive programme, with IIMA’s acclaimed case method pedagogy, aims to equip ambitious professionals with cutting-edge business insights to navigate global market challenges and prepare them for C-suite leadership while aligning with the UAE’s vision for innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth.”
Notably, IIMA already has a portfolio of nearly 5,000 case studies, but the Dubai campus will bring a regional lens to its pedagogical approach.
“Our case method pedagogy is the cornerstone to bridge the gap between industry and academia,” said Bhasker. “We are actively researching and writing cases on organisations in the UAE and GCC to help create pertinent exposure for our students.”
Cross-border education also opens new opportunities for knowledge exchange, benefitting both IIMA’s Indian and Dubai campuses.
“IIMA is an institute of global repute, which is recognised for excellence in management education, research, and leadership development,” he added. “Over the past 60 years, our faculty members and alumni have contributed significantly to policy and practice globally, and many of them have also gone on to lead some of the largest organisations in the world.”
© Khaleej Times
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