FT 2023 Business School Rankings: ISB is again top Indian MBA school, ahead of 5 IIMs

The Hyderabad based-business school was ranked 39th among the 100 business schools globally, but is down 7 spots from last year.

ByAjay Tomar

Published Feb 13, 2023 | 7:38 PMUpdatedFeb 13, 2023 | 7:47 PM

Indian School of Business. FT Global ranking of business schoos

For the second year in a row, the Indian School of Business (ISB) has come up trumps with its MBA programme ranked as India’s best in the Financial Times (FT) 2023 Global Business School Rankings for MBAs released on 12 February, Sunday.

The Hyderabad based-business school was ranked 6th in Asia and 39th overall among 100 MBA institutions globally — ahead of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).

However, though it again topped the ranking for India, it is down seven spots from its 32nd rank last year.

Started in 1999, this year marks the 25th-anniversary edition of the FT MBA Rankings.

The ISB is the only Indian Indian B-school in the top 50 worldwide list, dominated by the US and European B-schools.

Columbia Business School in New York has been ranked first followed by INSEAD (Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires) in France and Singapore, and IESE Business school in Spain.

Meanwhile, the FT has changed its methodology this year, where the weightage for salaries earned on placement being cut from two-fifths to less than one-third.

“More credit is given to diversity and sustainability,” FT said.

ISB leads Indian B-schools

The ISB, which also has a branch in Mohali, has also been ranked as the sixth-best MBA school in Asia and 61st globally for research.

“The ranking reiterates ISB’s commitment to offering its PGP students a transformational year of learning. It also reinforces ISB’s vision of being a research-led management institution. This research ranking also demonstrates the quality of research output generated by its faculty year on year,” a statement from the ISB read.

The ISB claimed that its alumni from the PGP Class of 2019 were surveyed on a multitude of criteria for this year’s ranking.

As per the rankings, the weighted salary of an ISB post-graduate is $1,61,331 (₹1.33 crore) per annum, while its alumni network is ranked 12th globally.

“ISB’s consistent ranking as the top B-school in India in the FT Global MBA Ranking bears testimony to its constant endeavour to offer its students a research-backed curriculum and cutting-edge pedagogy delivered by faculty who are thought leaders in their areas,” Deputy Dean of Academic Programmes Professor Ramabhadran Thirumalai said.

He added, “It also points to how well our alumni are doing in their careers after they graduate from the school.”

Other Indian B-schools

Five other Indian Business schools, all IIMs, have been made it to the list.

IIM Ahmedabad is ranked at number 51 (No 62 in 2022), Bangalore at 52 (53 in 2022) and Calcutta at 76 (68 in 2022). Unlike ISB, all three have improved their rankings.

IIM Indore at 89, and Lucknow at 90 have been named in the list for the first time.