GradSquare Admissions Guide · Updated July 2026

IIM Lucknow PGP-ABM Admission 2026: Eligibility, CAT Cut-offs, Selection Criteria & Placements

This GradSquare guide covers IIM Lucknow PGP-ABM admission 2026 end to end — eligibility, official CAT cut-offs, the composite selection process and the latest placement data for the two-year Post Graduate Programme in Agribusiness Management, leading to an MBA degree.

IIM Lucknow, established in 1984, is India's fourth IIM and a consistent top-5 B-school. Its PGP-ABM, now in its third decade, is one of the country's most respected agribusiness programmes, sharing the same faculty, degree and placement process as the flagship MBA. Official details: iiml.ac.in.

₹75 LHighest domestic CTC, 2025*

₹32.3 LAverage CTC, 2025*

100%Placement record

Top 5B-School in India (NIRF 2025)

Eligibility for IIM Lucknow PGP-ABM Admission 2026

Degree: A Bachelor's degree with at least 50% marks in any discipline (a degree in an agriculture-related discipline is welcomed but not mandatory).
Marks: Minimum 50% aggregate (relaxations apply for SC/ST/PwD as per IIML norms).
Entrance test: A valid CAT score is required.
Final-year students: Eligible to apply, subject to completion.
Application: Candidates register for CAT and apply to the PGP-ABM programme in the same application.

Fees

The PGP-ABM academic fee is ₹20.75 lakh for the two-year programme (2026). Hostel and other charges are additional. Need-based scholarships and bank education loans are available.

IIM Lucknow PGP-ABM CAT Cut-offs 2026

IIM Lucknow publishes minimum CAT percentile cut-offs to qualify for the WAT-PI shortlisting stage. For MBA-ABM these are set a notch below the flagship MBA.

Minimum overall CAT percentile to qualify for shortlisting — MBA-ABM

Category	Overall percentile
General	85
EWS	77
NC-OBC	77
SC	65
ST	55

These are qualifying floors for shortlisting, with a minimum sectional percentile also required. The final composite bar for an offer is higher — for the 2026-28 MBA-ABM cycle, the General composite cut-off was around 43.4 (max ~72.2). Verify current figures against the official IIML admission policy.

CAT Preparation

GradSquare CAT coaching for IIM Lucknow PGP-ABM aspirants

IIM Lucknow PGP-ABM Selection Criteria 2026

IIM Lucknow PGP-ABM admission is a two-stage, composite-score process:

Stage 1 — Shortlisting for WAT-PI: Candidates clearing the CAT cut-offs are ranked on a composite score built from CAT performance, class 12 and graduation marks, work experience and diversity factors.
Stage 2 — WAT-PI: Shortlisted candidates take a Writing Ability Test and a Personal Interview, conducted in several cities.
Stage 3 — Final merit: Offers are made on a final weighted score combining CAT, WAT, PI, academics, work experience and diversity.

WAT & Interview Preparation

Personalised GD PI WAT preparation for IIMs and other B-schools with GradSquare

IIM Lucknow PGP-ABM Placements

PGP-ABM shares IIM Lucknow's placement process with the flagship MBA, and reports 100% placement. In 2025, the combined PGP and PGP-ABM drive saw 180+ recruiters, 600+ offers, a highest domestic package of ₹75 LPA, a highest international package of ₹65 LPA and an average CTC of ₹32.3 LPA.

An important note on ABM placement figures

IIM Lucknow runs a common placement process for PGP and PGP-ABM and does not publish separate ABM-only salary figures — ABM students are placed in the same pool, across consulting, finance, general management, FMCG and agri-business roles. So the numbers below are the combined PGP + PGP-ABM figures, which ABM students genuinely participate in, not an ABM-only average.

IIM Lucknow placements — combined PGP + PGP-ABM (₹ lakh per annum)

Year	Highest Domestic	Highest Intl.	Average CTC	Median
2025	75.00	65.00	32.30	31.00
2024	123.00	65.00	30.00	—

*Figures are the combined PGP + PGP-ABM placement numbers reported by IIM Lucknow; the institute does not release ABM-only data. Consulting, finance and general management are the largest hiring sectors, alongside agri-business roles for ABM students.

Recruiters who show up repeatedly

Accenture, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, McKinsey & Company, Deloitte, PwC, EY-Parthenon, Amazon, American Express, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Adani Group, Tata Administrative Services, plus agri and FMCG recruiters such as ITC, Nestlé and leading agri-business firms; 2025 first-time recruiters included CRISIL, DBS Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Mankind Pharma, PhonePe and Walmart.

The Programme

A two-year, full-time residential Post Graduate Programme in Agribusiness Management, leading to an MBA degree. ABM students take the same rigorous general-management core as the flagship MBA — finance, marketing, operations, strategy, economics — layered with specialised agribusiness, agri-value-chain, food-systems, commodity-markets and rural-development courses.

Run through IIM Lucknow's agribusiness area, the programme combines case-method pedagogy with sector immersion and industry projects, positioning graduates for leadership across the food and agri-business value chain while retaining full access to the flagship placement pool.

Career Avenues After PGP-ABM

Consulting & strategy: A large share of ABM graduates enter consulting — Accenture, BCG, Bain, Deloitte, EY-Parthenon.
Finance & general management: Banking, investment and leadership-track roles across the combined pool.
FMCG & food processing: ITC, Nestlé, P&G and food majors — brand, category and supply-chain roles.
Agri-inputs & agri-tech: Agri-input, agri-value-chain and agri-tech roles for sector-focused candidates.
Agri-finance & rural markets: Rural and agri lending, financial inclusion and commodity-market roles.

Is IIM Lucknow PGP-ABM Right for You?

PGP-ABM is one of the strongest agribusiness routes into a top-5 IIM, offering the same MBA degree, faculty and placement pool as the flagship MBA at a slightly more accessible CAT cut-off. Because placements are common, ABM students access the full spectrum of consulting, finance and general-management roles, not only agri-business. If you want an IIM Lucknow MBA with an agribusiness specialisation and broad career optionality, this is an excellent choice. Admission is highly competitive, needing a strong CAT percentile and profile.

IIM Lucknow is one of eleven institutes in India running a specialised agribusiness programme. Our pillar guide ranks all of them by published placement package, sets out the entrance exam each one accepts, the indicative cut-offs and the fee-to-salary trade-off, and flags which figures — like IIM Lucknow's own — are combined-cohort numbers rather than agribusiness-only averages.

View more programs — MBA in Agri-Business Management →

Before applying, read the official admission policy at iiml.ac.in rather than any summary, including this one.

Start your IIM Lucknow PGP-ABM journey with CAT 2027. GradSquare is mentored by an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus — we coach you through CAT prep, the composite profile, WAT and the final interview.

Join us for CAT 2027

Compiled by GradSquare, July 2026. Placement, eligibility, cut-off and selection details are drawn from IIM Lucknow's official reports and admission policy; placement figures are combined PGP + PGP-ABM as the institute does not publish ABM-only data. Verify current details against the official notice at iiml.ac.in. This page is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the institute.

Join the CAT Program

Limited seats for upcoming batches

Our Students at IIMs and Top B-Schools

Join 3000+ students who achieved top percentiles

Join CAT 2026 Program

Limited seats for upcoming batches

      EXCELLENT  
   Based on 430 reviews 
    
 
 
 
   
 
 
       Posted on Google  
   
   Jacob Antony 
 13 April 2025
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I joined GradSquare Tambaram for CAT coaching, and it was one of the best decisions I made. Ajay Sir and his team provide incredible individual attention, treat you like family, and really put you at ease throughout the journey. They helped me improve in LRDI and further strengthen my Verbal Ability. Thanks to their guidance, I scored a 98.43 percentile in CAT and 98.321 in XAT, receiving calls from IIMs, XLRI, NITIE, NMIMS, and more. Their GD/PI prep was also exceptional and played a key role in me securing a seat at IIM Ahmedabad’s one-year MBA program. Highly recommend GradSquare to anyone serious about cracking BSchool exams and doing MBA
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   VIGNESH S 
 31 October 2024
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Ajay sir, Varun and Kushal have plethora of experience in mentoring thousands of students. More than the mentorship that they provided, all of them were empathetic in their approach. If you’re looking for advice/assistance for your higher education prep, then definitely worth considering.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Rishwin Lal Thayat 
 5 September 2024
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Writing this review as I sit in one of India's top B Schools, and after bagging an internship in the first month itself at one of the highest paying and most reputed companies. GradSquare played a major role, and my learnings from there and the relations I built will continue to guide me. What stands out is that they put meaning in 'Mentor for life', as they offer personalised guidance and are available whenever you need them.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Siva Sankaran 
 30 August 2024
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I joined GradSquare for Bschool interview preparation and I must say that I got the best of it. The learning methodology was structured with basics of what's being taught in 1st sem in BSchool.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   SIVARAJ CHANDRASEKARAN 20BCE0654 
 17 July 2024
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I got to know them through VIT Vellore and started my prep with them for CAT, XAT, SNAP, and NMAT. Their coaching was fantastic and helped me not just with the exams but also with the interview process. Thanks to them, I got into my dream B-school. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for quality coaching and support.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Avinash Kambala 
 12 June 2024
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Best Guidance and support for students who re serious about their aspirations
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Sarath Mathew Jacob 
 9 June 2024
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Happy to share that I had a wonderful time at Gradsquare preparing for the CAT exam and GDPI process. As someone who was entirely new to this entire process, I was fortunate to have had such wonderful mentors at Gradsquare who guided me through each and every step of the way. Mentors at Gradsquare helped me identify my weaknesses and helped me find my own strategy that was best suited for my strengths. What stood out for me was Gradsquare's approach which was different from the conventional approach of other coaching centres of using long hours to conduct classes, which in my opinion really doesn't help much, however they never hesitated to take long hours to clear our doubts which according to me was the key instrument in helping me succeed. Also, the Gradsquare portal is super easy to handle and it really makes your prep easy to assess and follow. I wholeheartedly endorse Gradsquare for anyone who is willing to give your best shot at converting a top B-School.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Revati Dw 
 29 May 2024
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I joined GradSquare for both CAT and GDPI prep and I wholeheartedly recommend the same to anyone serious about MBA Entrance examinations. The faculty at GradSquare is top-notch, to say the least. The mentors are always approachable and ready to offer guidance. For CAT prep, they did their best to enable all aspirants to approach the paper methodically by conducting one-on-one mock discussions and for their GDPI prep, they left no stone unturned to ensure that the students were well prepared for their interviews at various B-schools. Additionally, during the GDPI prep, the mentors carefully assess the strengths and weaknesses of the students, tailor their approach accordingly and provide detailed feedback to make sure that the students present the best version of themselves during their interviews. I am truly thankful to GradSquare for their unwavering support and expert guidance throughout my MBA Admission journey.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Anshika Agarwal 
 14 May 2024
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. As someone who was not confident of cracking CAT and getting an admit from a top management institute, Gradsquare came as a saviour. Getting enrolled in Gradsquare was one of the best decisions I took. The Mentors at Gradsquare cleared all the concepts for all three sections of CAT and were there for solving any sorts of doubts I had. Coming to my WAT/GDPI prep, as an Engineer, I had a tough time grasping and understanding some basic accounts and economic stuffs, but the mentors at Gradsquare made all the concepts crystal clear through various live sessions and case studies. The live sessions from various industry experts and alumni from different Bschools gave us great insights from the different sectors of the industry and enhanced our general understanding and knowledge. A big thanks to Team Gradsquare and all the mentors for helping me ace my Bschool admission journey. Would definitely recommend anyone planning to kickstart their MBA Admissions journey.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   diya sen 
 3 May 2024
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. As someone who has tried other study abroad counseling services before, I can confidently say that GradSquare offers a level of personalized attention and expertise that's truly unmatched. The assistance I received in polishing my applications and preparing for interviews was invaluable. Varun sir's deep and specific insights, tailored to the likes of each university, were what helped me secure my top-choice admits. It's rare to find a service that not only understands the application process but also genuinely cares about your success. I am deeply grateful to my mentors at GradSquare for helping me achieve what I wanted.