History & Campus

When comparing the campuses and histories of IIM Lucknow and XLRI, it is evident that XLRI is older and has a longer history than IIM Lucknow which began with a very small campus in 1984. However, both colleges are currently located in a very tranquil and green setting that is ideal for higher education and all the necessary facilities are available.

IIM Lucknow

In 1984, IIM Lucknow became the fourth IIM to be established following IIM Calcutta, Ahmedabad and Bangalore. Its 190-acre campus is serene, green and in a peaceful environment. It also has a satellite campus in Noida in the Delhi NCR area, that is solely for executive education.

Since its humble beginnings in 1984, the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIML) has developed into a fully integrated global management school according to the director of IIM Lucknow. The school has always operated under the tenets of knowledge creation, management practice influence, and global integration. In order to achieve a synergistic effect, the goals of education delivery, knowledge creation, dissemination and application are being fulfilled in an integrated manner.

XLRI Jamshedpur

XLRI was founded in 1949, two years after India gained its independence and is arguably the nation's oldest management school. Located in the state of Jharkhand's Jamshedpur also called Tatanagar it was founded under the name of Jamshed Ji Tata. Nearly every facility on campus is available including a food court, student residence halls, gardens, a playground, and auditoriums.

The director of XLRI claims that it is the oldest business school in contemporary India, having been established in 1949 by Jesuit Fr. Quinn Enright, SJ, long before IIMs. He put a lot of effort into building it with his fellow Jesuits. Today XLRI is regarded as one of the best business schools in the nation and Asia, a testament to the 70 years of unwavering dedication from the faculty, staff and devoted alumni.

Programs that IIM Lucknow offers

Details about every program that IIM Lucknow offers are listed in the table below: three of these are PGP programs, two are for working professionals, and two are for other programs.

The courses that XLRI Jamshedpur offers

The table below lists five PGDM programs, two fellow programs and one executive program. Four online postgraduate diplomas in management—business management, human resource management, finance and human resource management for emerging CHRO’s are available in addition to six certificate programmes.

Other* – Have a two-year full-time PGDM / MBA or their equivalent from XLRI, any of the IIMs, FMS Delhi, MDI Gurgaon, XIMB, IRMA, SP Jain, TISS, ISI or the school/department of management of an IIT with a CQPI of at least 6 on a scale of 8 or equivalent.

An analysis of the CAT and XAT comparison

Students must score well on the Common Admission Test (CAT) to be admitted to any PGP programme and a few other programmes at IIM Lucknow. The Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) is used for XLRI's Postgraduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) and other courses. Both tests range in difficulty from moderate to high, with XAT's Quant and DI and CAT's VARC being regarded as easier comparative tests. The main conclusions of the two tests are contrasted in the table below: 

Fee and Placement Disparities between XLRI and IIM Lucknow

While XLRI charges 50% more from MBA students than IIM Lucknow, the average placements for IIM Lucknow and XLRI graduates are nearly equal, ranging from 31 to 32 lakhs. 

Rankings, Approvals and Accreditations of IIM Lucknow and XLRI

Both IIM Lucknow and XLRI colleges have high rankings in the NIRF and IIRF, two of the most prestigious Indian rankings. They also have reputable AMBA rankings and XLRi has two additional accreditations: AACSB and NBA.

Faculties at IIM Lucknow and XLRI

Since XLRI was founded 35 years before IIM Lucknow was founded in 1984 and is regarded as the top MBA HR college in India, its alumni are significantly larger and both institutions have excellent faculty. Specifics are provided in the table below.

Some of the IIM Lucknow faculty 

1. Prof Kirti Bardhan Gupta

At its Centre for Food and Agribusiness Management, Kriti Bardhan Gupta holds the position of Associate Professor. He first worked at prestigious national and international institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi after earning his M. Tech. (Agri. Engineering) from Pantnagar in 1993 and his PhD from IIM Ahmedabad in 1998.

2. Dr Disha Mittal

At the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Lucknow, Dr. Diksha Mittal is an assistant professor with expertise in professional writing, gender studies and communication studies. Dr. Mittal, who has a strong academic background and a wealth of teaching experience, approaches her work in a dynamic, interdisciplinary manner, incorporating diversity and inclusion principles, intercultural communication and critical thinking into her research and pedagogy.

3. Prof Chandan Sharma

At the Indian Institute of Management in Lucknow, Chandan Sharma teaches business environment and economics. He teaches econometrics, public economics, international economics and finance, and macroeconomics. Infrastructure, industrial economics, political economy, development economics and the shadow economy are the main areas of his research. He has done a lot of work on infrastructure and growth nexus, ICT, R&D, international reserves, optimal currency area (OCA), and firm-level productivity. 

4. Prof Ajay Kumar Garg

Professor Ajay K. Garg is an IIM Bangalore Fellow (PhD). Since joining IIM Lucknow in 2007, he has participated in all aspects of IIML's operations, including training, research, teaching, academic administration, consulting and institution building.

Prior to his recent appointment, he served as the Dean (Faculty) of IIM Lucknow for over three years. He also served on the Board of Governors for over three years. He also presided over the institute's budget and audit committee until recently, which was in charge of internal audit, financial statements, investments and budget preparation.

Some of the XLRI Faculty members

1. Dr Vishwa Ballabh

• Designation: Professor
• Qualification: M.Sc. Hons. (Agr. & A.H.), M.Sc. (Agr.), Ph.D. (Agr.Eco.), IARI, New Delhi
• Functional Area: Economics

COURSES TAUGHT

• Corporate Finance
• Financial Institutions and Markets
• Investment Management
• Financial Derivatives
• Empirical Finance
• Financial Econometrics with R
• Quantitative Finance

3. Dr Farheen Fathima Shaik

• Designation: Assistant Professor
• Qualification: MBA; Ph.D. - IIM, Tiruchirappalli
• Functional Area: Human Resource Management

COURSES TAUGHT

• Recruitment and Selection
• Staffing and Employer Branding
• Talent Acquisition
• Fundamentals of HRM
• Digital Human Resource Management
• Future of Work - FPM
• International Human Resource Management
• Performance Management

4. Dr Basant Kumar Purohit

• Designation: Assistant Professor
• Qualification: MBA; FPM - IIMA
• Functional Area: Marketing

COURSES TAUGHT

• Marketing Management Program
• Sales and Distribution Management
• Marketing Research
• Marketing Strategy
• FMCG Marketing

Last Word

It is impossible to say which is superior when comparing the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow and Xavier School of Management side by side but some notable distinctions do show up: XLRI is the best in the nation for MBA/PGDM programmes in HRM while IIM Lucknow is regarded as one of the best in FABM along with IIM Ahmedabad.

Though the average packages received by MBA/PGDM graduates from both colleges are nearly the same, XLRI charges more than IIM Lucknow, which makes sense given that IIM Lucknow is a government-owned institution and that XLRI's facilities and other offerings are marginally better.