IIM Bangalore Executive MBA Fees: PGPEM vs EPGP

Written by L K Monu Borkala, Founder & Chief Strategist

IIM Bangalore executive MBA fees depend on the programme. PGPEM, the two-year weekend MBA, printed a tuition fee of ₹20,11,000 for the 2023-25 batch. EPGP, the one-year residential MBA, costs ₹33,68,000 with hostel for 2026-27, according to IIMB’s fee page. The current PGPEM admission page prints no fee at all.

IIM Bangalore runs two programmes that people call its executive MBA, and their fee pages disagree about what counts as a fee. The weekend programme, PGPEM, prints tuition only for a batch that has already graduated. The one-year programme, EPGP, prints a full table for 2026-27, yet its own brochure shows a different total. This guide lines up every printed figure, shows the arithmetic and flags what to confirm with IIMB before you pay.

Which IIM Bangalore programme is the executive MBA?

IIMB has no single programme with that exact name. Two of its programmes serve experienced professionals, and both award an MBA: the Post Graduate Programme in Enterprise Management (PGPEM) and the Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP). The institute itself is covered in IIM Bangalore admissions and fees guide, and its directory entry sits on the IIM Bangalore college listing.

Sources: IIMB PGPEM admission process (page dated 16 June 2026), PGPEM programme page (9 September 2026), EPGP admission process (15 June 2026) and IIMB’s EPGP batch announcement. One caution on PGPEM experience: the programme page’s own description says four years, while the admission page and its body text say six, and the FAQ page, last updated in 2020, still shows four years as on 31 March 2021. Follow the 2027 admission page, which says six.

3 reasons the name “executive MBA” misleads at IIM Bangalore

1. Weekend does not mean part of the year. PGPEM is a two-year weekend programme for working professionals, and IIMB’s FAQ says you can keep your job while attending. That is the one you can do without a salary gap.

2. EPGP takes you out of work. It is a one-year full-time residential programme, so its real price is the fee plus a year of pay you do not earn.

3. The approval wording differs from PGDM colleges. XIME’s working-professional page says AICTE approved. IIMB’s PGPEM admission page states no approving body and links to the IIM Act and Rules. If your employer’s reimbursement form asks for one, get the wording from IIMB in writing.

IIM Bangalore executive MBA fees: what is printed

Start with PGPEM, because IIMB PGPEM fees are what most people search for and the numbers are the oldest. The PGPEM programme expenses page is headed for the 2023-2025 batch. I checked the current admission page, the programme page and the FAQ page for a newer fee and found none.

The practical reading: ₹20.11 lakh plus the ₹10,000 deposit is ₹20,21,000 before taxes, and fees can change between batches, so treat it as a reference point and not a 2027 quote. The continuation fee is the clause people miss. A student who needs a gap year pays ₹25,000 for each term, whether or not any course is taken.

EPGP is different. The EPGP fees and scholarships page, last updated on 23 June 2026, prints a full table headed 2026-27.

The components add up to the printed totals, which is not true of every fee page I have read. Tuition covers course material, computing and networking, library, alumni association, student activities and career counselling. The immersion line is labelled indicative, and the page says the amount “will be restricted to actual expenditure” on travel, accommodation and foreign university course fees.

Two conflicts need flagging. The EPGP brochure for 2026-27 puts the with-hostel total at ₹33,71,000, which is ₹3,000 more than the fee page, and gives ₹36,62,000 for family accommodation outside campus. The brochure is the older document, since its application windows belong to the 2025 cycle, so I use the fee page. Second, the fee page is headed 2026-27 while the admission cycle now open is for 2027-28, so ask IIMB whether the same table applies to you. To see where these fees sit in the city, printed MBA fees at ten Bangalore colleges lines up the published figures for full-time programmes.

4 costs that sit outside the printed fee

1. Salary foregone on EPGP. Take an illustrative pre-tax pay of ₹30 lakh a year, which is my example and not a statistic. The one-year EPGP then costs about ₹62.2 lakh without hostel (₹32.2 lakh plus ₹30 lakh), or ₹63.7 lakh with it.

2. Taxes on PGPEM. IIMB says taxes and levies are payable on top, without giving the rate.

3. Family accommodation. Hostel is only for the student and spouse, and the brochure’s ₹36,62,000 total applies when the family stays outside campus.

4. Weekend travel and gap terms on PGPEM. Classes are on campus on Bannerghatta Road, so out-of-town students add transport, and a break adds ₹25,000 for each term.

Scholarships, loans and what they do to the net fee

EPGP’s scholarship list is specific, and it changes the arithmetic more than most people expect. PGPEM’s pages say only that IIMB offers scholarships case by case, with no amounts.

Source: IIMB EPGP fees and scholarships page, updated 23 June 2026. Here is the insight that the fee-comparison pages skip. If the 2027-28 batch is close to the 75 students of 2026-27, the 12 merit and 7 merit-cum-means awards cover 19 seats, or about one in four admitted students, before the in-programme awards. The batch size for 2027-28 is not published, so this is an estimate. The headline fee is therefore the price for roughly three in four students, not for everyone.

For the balance, the EPGP page names the State Bank of India’s scholar loan through the IIMB campus branch. How education loans work for Karnataka students explains how banks assess the borrower, and an experienced professional usually borrows on salary and not on a parent’s income. Whether a loan makes sense depends on payback, and how to read a placement record shows how to test that.

Eligibility, tests and the 2026-27 deadlines

The PGPEM admission process page, dated 16 June 2026, sets the calendar for the 2027 intake. You apply in only one round. Round 1 runs from 15 June to 22 October 2026 with interviews on 21 and 22 November, offers on 2 December and acceptance by 11 December. Round 2 runs from 24 October 2026 to 27 January 2027, with interviews on 13 and 14 February 2027 and offers on 25 February.

The IIMB Test is on 25 October 2026 and 31 January 2027, at ₹1,200 on top of the application fee. The page does not say which round each date serves. The 25 October date falls the day after Round 2 opens, which suggests it feeds Round 2, but the 31 January date falls four days after Round 2 closes. Ask IIMB which is right before you book. The page also says all dates are subject to change, and at-home GMAT or GRE scores are not accepted.

EPGP’s Round 1 has already closed. Round 2 accepts applications from 19 August to 25 November 2026 at 5:00 p.m. IST, at ₹7,000, with interviews on 12 and 13 December, offers on 24 December and acceptance by 4 January 2027, per IIMB’s important dates page updated 15 June 2026. Interviews are held in Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, and applicants outside India can attend online.

On the test route, PGPEM accepts CAT, GMAT, GRE or its own test, so a CAT score you already hold may be enough. If you have none, Bangalore’s ranked MBA colleges shows what the full-time alternatives ask for. EPGP wants GMAT or GRE and runs no test of its own.

Executive MBA colleges in Bangalore beyond IIMB

Searches for executive mba colleges in bangalore return mostly IIMB, but two other institutions publish their own pages, including XIME Bangalore’s college page. For the weekend-format comparison across all of them, see part-time and weekend MBA options in Bangalore.

For executive mba in christ university bangalore, the fee has a conflict, and the programme sits in the Christ University MBA listing. Christ’s course page, tied to a 2024 batch, shows ₹2,53,000 a year for Karnataka students, while the 2026 brochure shows ₹3,30,000. That is ₹77,000 more, or 30%, if they are different batches, but the brochure does not state its batch year, so confirm with Christ before you budget. The pages describe the programme as NBA accredited, and I found no AICTE or UGC statement on them. The brochure lists MAT, GMAT, GRE, CMAT, CAT, XAT and ATMA scores for the entrance route, with 60 percentile or more for CMAT, CAT, XAT and ATMA, and selection by interview, micro presentation and skill assessment.

Against IIMB, Christ’s ₹6.60 lakh total is about a third of PGPEM’s ₹20.11 lakh tuition, my arithmetic on two different batch years. That is the central trade-off: a lower fee, a lower experience bar and a Bangalore-employment condition, against IIMB’s name and its six-year requirement. If you are unsure whether to take a PGDM or an MBA, the PGDM course overview and the MBA course page explain the difference.

Which programme fits which career stage

A sensible filter is the pay-back question: what increase in annual pay would recover the fee in five years? For PGPEM at ₹20.21 lakh that is about ₹4 lakh more each year, and for EPGP at ₹32.2 lakh plus a lost year it is far higher. Pay data for IIMB’s executive programmes is not published on the pages I read. Which jobs MBA graduates move into gives the wider range. If you are not an experienced hire yet, SIBM Bangalore’s fees, placements and SNAP route covers a full-time MBA at a lower third-party fee than EPGP.

What IIMB has not published

Six items stay open. IIMB has published no PGPEM fee for the 2027 batch on the pages I read. The EPGP 2027-28 fee is not stated on its admission page, and the fee page is headed 2026-27. The PGPEM IIMB Test dates do not map clearly to the rounds. IIMB’s approving-body wording is absent from the PGPEM admission page. Christ’s fee batch year is unstated. No source gives salary outcomes for PGPEM or EPGP graduates.

IIMB selects by test score, application and interview. Bangalore colleges that admit outside such processes follow their own published criteria, as described in MBA admission support for Bangalore colleges.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fee of the IIM Bangalore executive MBA?
It depends on the programme. PGPEM printed a tuition fee of ₹20,11,000 for the 2023-25 batch plus a ₹10,000 refundable deposit, and the current admission page shows no fee. EPGP is ₹33,68,000 with hostel or ₹32,20,000 without accommodation for 2026-27, as per IIMB’s fee page updated 23 June 2026.

Is IIM Bangalore PGPEM a weekend MBA?
Yes. IIMB describes it as a two-year weekend programme for working professionals, with classes on campus over weekends, and it can stretch from two to five years. It awards an MBA and does not require you to leave your job.

How much work experience does IIM Bangalore need for the executive MBA?
PGPEM needs six years of full-time experience as on 31 March 2027, and part-time work and internships do not count. EPGP needs five years as on the same date, preferably under 12, and GMAT or GRE scores.

Does IIM Bangalore EPGP offer scholarships?
Yes. IIMB lists 12 merit scholarships of ₹8,00,000, 7 merit-cum-means scholarships of ₹6,00,000 and an in-programme award of ₹4,00,000 for the top five by CGPA after term two, as per its fee page updated 23 June 2026.

When does IIM Bangalore EPGP Round 2 close?
Round 2 applications close on 25 November 2026 at 5:00 p.m. IST, per IIMB’s important dates page updated 15 June 2026. Interviews are on 12 and 13 December and offers follow on 24 December 2026.

Is there an executive MBA at Christ University Bangalore?
Yes, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) offers an MBA (Executive) at its Central Campus over two years. Its 2026 brochure shows ₹3,30,000 a year for Karnataka students, while an older course page shows ₹2,53,000, so confirm the current fee with Christ.

Decide the format, then get the fee in writing

Pick the format first, because it decides the budget: a weekend programme keeps your salary and a full-time year removes it. Then email IIMB for the fee that applies to your intake in writing, and compare it with the Christ route on the same sheet before the application window you need closes.

This article is for informational purposes only. Consult the college directly before making admission decisions.

Written by L K Monu Borkala.