New Delhi: Students appearing for the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2009 have a reason to cheer as their probability of getting a seat in the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) now stands a brighter chance. With new four new IIMs coming up across the nation, CAT this year will offer 560 extra IIM seats to the aspiring management candidates.

According to the sources from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), the CAT committee was asked to include these additional seats from this year. Currently there are seven IIMs across the nation and the cabinet now has cleared to set four more in the country in August. Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Rohtak (Haryana) are the proposed additions to the family of IIMs.

The admission limit of all the new IIMs is set to be 140 seats, which is objected by the directors of some of the existing IIMs, claiming it to be on a higher side for a new institute to manage. According to a government official, "As soon as the new institutes get their directors appointed, the old IIMs will step in to help the new to decide upon the content of the academic courses."

The ministry has although called for applications inviting the directors for the new IIMs but it is still to form a panel to appoint them. Except for IIM-Rohtak's provisional campus at the Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU), the ministry has been unable to locate a temporary infrastructure for the rest of the IIMs as yet. The announcement for CAT 2009, which will be commencing from November 28 to December 7, had no mention about the new IIMs.

source: indiaedunews.net