Patna: The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) has accorded equivalence to the two-year full-time post graduate diploma in management (PGDM) programme offered by Chandragupt Institute of Management Patna (CIMP) with the master of business administration (MBA) degree of any Indian university.

The institute, established in 2008, has been offering the two-year PGDM course. With the AIU approval, the students' degree will be considered on a par with MBA, enabling them to pursue PhD from any recognised institution and make them eligible to sit for the National Eligibility Test (NET). AIU is the nodal agency for granting academic equivalence to the PGDM with MBA degree of an Indian university for the purpose of admission to higher studies in India and abroad.

"CIMP is the only institute in Bihar offering PGDM equivalent to MBA. Students are very excited about their opportunities," said director Dr V. Mukunda Das.

"This is a big achievement for the institute as now, the PGDM degree provided by the CIMP will be equivalent to MBA. The biggest beneficiaries will be students, as they will not face any difficulty in pursing higher studies (PhD or sitting for the UGC-NET examination)." Agarwal claimed that the CIMP flagship programme, PGDM, is already approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA), but as the course was a diploma, students faced difficulty in going for higher studies," said assistant professor Kalyan Agarwal.

Sources said many government agencies, while recruiting staff in their organisation, demand MBA degree-holders. With the PGDM degree getting equivalence with MBA, CIMP passouts can apply for government jobs too.

The CIMP students sounded elated. "We have heard of our seniors' difficulty in pursuing higher studies as the diploma was not equivalent to a degree," said a student. He claimed that even foreign universities will consider the CIMP diploma on a par with MBA with the AIU approval.

Sources said the CIMP had been trying to get the approval since 2014. Several letters were sent to the AIU office in New Delhi. After detailed deliberations on all specified parameters against several criteria, the AIU gave the approval.

According to reports, the matter was placed before the equivalence committee and the proposal was later approved in the meeting of the governing council held in AIU House, New Delhi.