Last updated: 13 November 2026

FMS Delhi vs IIM Lucknow is one of the most common two-way decisions among CAT aspirants with a finance goal, and it is unusual because the price tag differs by about ₹18 lakh while the average pay is almost the same. FMS Delhi charges about ₹2.43 lakh for the two-year MBA. IIM Lucknow charges about ₹20.75 lakh. In the 2026 final placements, FMS reported an average of ₹32.27 LPA and IIM Lucknow ₹33.2 LPA.

This FMS vs IIM Lucknow guide puts the two side by side on fees, placements, finance hiring, ROI and cutoffs, then tells you who should pick which.

FMS Delhi vs IIM Lucknow: The Quick Verdict

If this describes you	Lean towards
You want the best return per rupee spent and minimal debt	FMS Delhi
You want the IIM brand, a bigger batch and a wider recruiter base	IIM Lucknow
Finance is your goal and cost matters	FMS Delhi
Finance is your goal and you want the most finance offers and buy-side names	IIM Lucknow
You want the higher median package	IIM Lucknow (₹32.9 LPA vs ₹29.59 LPA)

The rest of the article shows where each line comes from.

FMS Delhi vs IIM Lucknow at a Glance

Factor	FMS Delhi	IIM Lucknow
Programme fee (2026-28)	About ₹2.43 lakh (₹60,818 per semester)	About ₹20.75 lakh
Batch size	About 307 students	559 students placed in 2026 (PGP and PGP-ABM)
Final placements 2026: companies	119 participated	200+ recruiters
Average CTC	₹32.27 LPA	₹33.2 LPA
Median CTC	₹29.59 LPA	₹32.9 LPA
Highest CTC	₹1.1 crore	₹1 crore (domestic)
Students placed	287 (304 appeared; 3 took a placement holiday)	559
CAT shortlist level (general)	About 99+ percentile	Published minimum 90 overall; real shortlisting runs much higher

Two details matter more than the headline averages. First, FMS has the higher top-end figure (₹1.1 crore against ₹1 crore), while IIM Lucknow has the higher median, so IIML’s pay is more evenly distributed. Second, 132 of FMS’s 287 offers were above ₹30 LPA, which is about 46%.

FMS Delhi vs IIM Lucknow Fees: The ₹18 Lakh Gap

FMS Delhi’s fee for the 2026-28 batch is ₹2,43,272, paid as ₹60,818 per semester across four semesters, a 4.85% rise on the previous batch. IIM Lucknow’s two-year PGP fee is about ₹20.75 lakh for the same batch.

The gap is about ₹18.32 lakh. Living costs are extra at both. FMS hostel charges run to roughly ₹5,000 a month, and IIM Lucknow’s residential costs are part of the wider budget you should check on the official site.

One caution: FMS fees have moved. They rose 16% between the 2024-26 and 2025-27 batches and 4.85% after that. The placements below belong to the 2024-26 batch, which paid less than the 2026-28 batch will. The ROI section uses the current fee so the comparison stays conservative.

FMS Delhi vs IIM Lucknow Placements 2026

Final Placements (Batch 2024-26)

FMS Delhi reported 287 students placed from a batch of about 307, with 119 companies participating. The average CTC was ₹32.27 LPA, the median ₹29.59 LPA and the highest ₹1.1 crore. The average of the top 100 offers was ₹45.2 LPA, and 74.9% of the batch received offers above ₹25 LPA.

By domain, consulting led with 84 offers, followed by product, IT and analytics with 64, marketing and finance with 59 each, and general management with 21. Consulting also led pre-placement offers (45 of 97).

IIM Lucknow placed 559 students from the 40th PGP and 21st PGP-ABM batches, with 580 offers from more than 200 recruiters. The average CTC was ₹33.2 LPA, the median ₹32.9 LPA, the highest domestic CTC ₹1 crore and the highest international CTC ₹65 lakh. Accenture, Google, Amazon and TCS were among the larger recruiters mentioned in the coverage.

Summer Placements (Batch 2026-28)

Summer internships are the entry point to finance roles, because a bank internship can convert into a full-time offer. The latest round, held in October 2026, shows the two schools are close.

Metric	FMS Delhi	IIM Lucknow
Students	282 placed (100%)	578 (100%)
Offers	291 from 96 companies	600+
Average stipend	₹3.46 lakh for two months (about ₹1.73 lakh a month)	₹1.72 lakh a month
Median stipend	₹3.76 lakh for two months	₹1.75 lakh a month
Highest stipend	₹6 lakh for two months	₹3.5 lakh a month (domestic)
Finance share of accepted offers	15%	Not published in the reports reviewed

On a monthly basis the average stipends are effectively level. The difference is in scale: IIM Lucknow places about twice as many students.

FMS vs IIM Lucknow for Finance: Offers and Recruiters

This is the question most readers actually care about. Start with the numbers.

Measure	FMS Delhi	IIM Lucknow
Finance offers in final placements 2026	59	About 99 (estimate)
Finance share of final offers	About 21% (59 of 287)	About 17%
Finance share, latest summer round	15%	Not published
Finance pre-placement offers	10	Not stated

Read these with care. FMS’s figure comes from its own domain counts. IIM Lucknow’s comes from a media estimate, and the same source warns that sector classification and reporting methods differ across institutes. Offers are also not students.

What the table does show: FMS Delhi has a similar or higher finance share, and IIM Lucknow has more finance offers in absolute terms because the batch is almost twice the size.

Who Recruits for Finance

Category	FMS Delhi (2026 reports)	IIM Lucknow (2026 reports)
Global investment banks	Goldman Sachs, Citi, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo, Standard Chartered	Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley (IB)
Domestic banks and broking	Kotak Mahindra, Motilal Oswal, ICICI Bank, Dolat Capital	Axis Capital, Avendus, Bernstein, HDFC Investment Banking
Asset management, PE and research	PinPoint Investment Advisory	BlackRock, DE Shaw, Neo Asset Management, Premji Invest, o3 Capital, Samara Capital

This list names firms in the reports I reviewed. A firm missing from one column does not prove it never hires from that campus, since lists change each year.

The pattern is useful. Both campuses reach the same core group of investment banks. IIM Lucknow’s list leans further towards asset management, private equity and research, while FMS’s list has a strong domestic banking and broking component. Neither school publishes an investment-banking-only count, so treat any IB-specific salary figure you read online as an estimate.

IIM Lucknow’s own summer data adds one more caution: in its 2025 round, the finance domain’s highest stipend was ₹3.95 lakh a month, yet its median was ₹1.5 lakh a month, below the batch-wide median of ₹1.72 lakh. Finance has the top end, not the highest median.

For a fuller breakdown IIM Lucknow Courses, Admission, Fees, CAT Cutoff, Placements

FMS Delhi vs IIM Lucknow ROI: What the Numbers Say

Measure	FMS Delhi	IIM Lucknow
Programme fee	₹2.43 lakh	₹20.75 lakh
Average CTC	₹32.27 LPA	₹33.2 LPA
Median CTC	₹29.59 LPA	₹32.9 LPA
Fee as a share of average CTC	7.5%	62.5%
Months of gross average CTC to cover the fee	About 1	About 7.5
Average CTC minus total fee	₹29.84 lakh	₹12.45 lakh
Median CTC minus total fee	₹27.16 lakh	₹12.15 lakh

On this simple model FMS Delhi wins ROI by a wide margin, because the average CTC is nearly the same while the cost is a fraction.

Treat the model as illustrative. It uses gross, pre-tax CTC, ignores living costs and opportunity cost, mixes the 2026-28 fee with 2024-26 placements, and uses a single average across all sectors. What it shows reliably is direction and scale. Paying about ₹18 lakh more for IIM Lucknow does not buy a proportionally higher average salary.

What the extra fee does buy is covered in the next two sections.

Admission: CAT Cutoffs and Selection

Aspect	FMS Delhi	IIM Lucknow
Typical general shortlist	About 99+ percentile (some sources say 98)	Published minimum 90 overall and 85 in each section (CAT 2025 cycle); our IIM Lucknow guide notes shortlisting usually needs about 97-99+
Selection stages	CAT score plus Class 10 and 12 marks, SOP discussion, extempore and personal interview	Multi-stage process built on the CAT score; check IIM Lucknow’s admission notification for weights
Seats	251 sanctioned seats plus supernumerary seats (2026-27 intake)	Larger PGP and PGP-ABM intake

FMS Delhi’s PI shortlist for general candidates used composite scores of about 47.5 (2023-25 data) and 45.6 (2024-26 data). These are directional benchmarks from RTI data, not official forecasts. Section weights at FMS are VARC 40%, DILR 30% and QA 30%, which rewards a strong verbal score, so plan your CAT preparation accordingly. The details are in the FMS Delhi CAT cut-off guide, and the 2026-28 form process is covered in the FMS Delhi form 2027 guide.

The practical point: both calls are hard to get. If you hold both, you are in a strong position, and the decision is about fit, not selectivity.

Brand, Network and Location

IIM Lucknow carries the IIM brand and a larger alumni base across many sectors, which students often cite as a reason to pay the premium. FMS Delhi, established in 1954 as part of the University of Delhi, has a long record in Indian business education and a strong reputation in consulting, finance and marketing. These are reputational points, not measured ones, so weigh them against the data above.

Location matters for internships and events. FMS sits in Delhi, close to NCR corporate and banking offices. IIM Lucknow is in Lucknow, which means students travel for many recruiter interactions. Most Indian investment banking desks are in Mumbai, so students from both campuses relocate for the job.

Who Should Choose FMS Delhi, and Who Should Choose IIM Lucknow

Your situation	Better choice	Why
Cost and low debt matter most	FMS Delhi	Fee of ₹2.43 lakh against ₹20.75 lakh, with similar average pay
Finance is the goal and you want ROI	FMS Delhi	Finance is about 21% of its final offers, with Goldman Sachs, Citi, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank on the list
You want a broader pool of finance recruiters, including buy-side	IIM Lucknow	More finance offers in absolute terms, plus BlackRock, DE Shaw and Premji Invest
You want the higher median and a bigger batch network	IIM Lucknow	Median ₹32.9 LPA against ₹29.59 LPA
You want consulting as a strong fallback	Either	Consulting led at FMS (84 offers) and is a major sector at IIM Lucknow
You want the top-end outcome	FMS Delhi (by a small margin)	₹1.1 crore highest against ₹1 crore, plus ₹45.2 LPA top-100 average

If you can afford IIM Lucknow comfortably and value the IIM name and network, it is a sound choice. If you would borrow most of the fee, FMS Delhi’s economics are hard to beat.

Common Myths About FMS Delhi vs IIM Lucknow

• “An IIM always out-earns FMS.” Not on these numbers. Average CTC is ₹33.2 LPA at IIM Lucknow and ₹32.27 LPA at FMS Delhi, and FMS’s highest package is higher.
• “FMS is only for marketing.” Consulting led its 2026 offers, and finance matched marketing at 59 offers each.
• “IIM Lucknow is a finance campus.” Its finance share is about 17% of offers, with consulting and several other domains also large.
• “You must pay more for better finance placements.” The data shows more finance offers at IIML in absolute terms but a similar or lower share, so the extra fee does not buy a proportionally better finance outcome.

Prepare for Both Calls

Whichever you prefer, the shortlist depends on your CAT performance. Benchmark yourself with a full-length CAT mock test, build consistency with daily CAT practice, and study question patterns through CAT previous year questions. For official details, check the FMS Delhi website and the IIM Lucknow website.

To compare FMS with other IIMs as well, read the broader FMS Delhi vs IIM comparison.

Summary on FMS Delhi vs IIM Lucknow

• FMS Delhi costs about ₹2.43 lakh and IIM Lucknow about ₹20.75 lakh, a gap of about ₹18.32 lakh.
• Average CTC is almost level: ₹32.27 LPA at FMS and ₹33.2 LPA at IIM Lucknow. IIM Lucknow has the higher median (₹32.9 LPA vs ₹29.59 LPA); FMS has the higher top offer (₹1.1 crore vs ₹1 crore).
• Finance is about 21% of FMS’s final offers (59) and about 17% of IIM Lucknow’s (around 99). IIML wins on absolute volume and buy-side names; FMS wins on share and ROI.
• Both reach Goldman Sachs, Citi, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley.
• Summer stipends per month are effectively level (₹1.73 lakh vs ₹1.72 lakh).
• Pick FMS Delhi for ROI and low debt; pick IIM Lucknow for the IIM brand, scale and a broader recruiter base.

Frequently Asked Questions: FMS Delhi vs IIM Lucknow

Which is better, FMS Delhi or IIM Lucknow?

It depends on what you are optimising for. FMS Delhi gives far better ROI, with a fee of about ₹2.43 lakh against ₹20.75 lakh and a nearly equal average CTC (₹32.27 LPA vs ₹33.2 LPA). IIM Lucknow gives a higher median (₹32.9 LPA vs ₹29.59 LPA), a larger batch and the IIM brand.

Is FMS Delhi better than IIM Lucknow for finance?

On share, FMS is slightly ahead: finance made up about 21% of its 2026 final offers (59 offers), against about 17% (around 99 offers) at IIM Lucknow. IIM Lucknow offers more finance roles in absolute terms and more asset management and private equity recruiters. Definitions of “finance” differ between the two, so treat the comparison as approximate.

Is FMS Delhi equal to an IIM?

On recent placement numbers FMS Delhi performs in the same range as the older IIMs, with a ₹32.27 LPA average and a ₹1.1 crore highest package in 2026. Brand and alumni reach differ by institute, and those are reputational factors, not measured outcomes.

What is the fee difference between FMS Delhi and IIM Lucknow?

FMS Delhi’s MBA fee for 2026-28 is ₹2,43,272 in total (₹60,818 per semester). IIM Lucknow’s two-year PGP is about ₹20.75 lakh. The gap is roughly ₹18.32 lakh before living costs.

What is the average package at FMS Delhi vs IIM Lucknow?

For the 2024-26 batch, FMS Delhi reported an average of ₹32.27 LPA and a median of ₹29.59 LPA. IIM Lucknow reported an average of ₹33.2 LPA and a median of ₹32.9 LPA. FMS’s highest package was ₹1.1 crore and IIM Lucknow’s highest domestic package was ₹1 crore.

What CAT percentile do I need for FMS Delhi vs IIM Lucknow?

FMS Delhi’s general-category shortlist is commonly reported at about 99+ percentile. IIM Lucknow published minimum thresholds of 90 overall and 85 in each section for the 2026-28 cycle, but actual shortlisting usually needs a much higher percentile. Check each institute’s current notification for the cycle you are applying to.

Should I choose FMS Delhi or IIM Lucknow if I get both?

If cost and ROI matter most, FMS Delhi is hard to beat, since you pay about ₹18 lakh less for a similar average package. If you want the IIM brand, a larger network and the higher median, and can afford the fee, IIM Lucknow is a reasonable choice.

Conclusion: FMS Delhi vs IIM Lucknow

FMS Delhi vs IIM Lucknow is not a close call on money and is a close call on outcomes. FMS Delhi delivers an average CTC within about ₹1 lakh of IIM Lucknow’s for roughly a tenth of the fee, and its finance share is at least as high. IIM Lucknow offers a higher median, a larger batch and a wider finance recruiter base that includes buy-side and asset management firms.

For most finance-focused candidates who must weigh cost, FMS Delhi is the stronger value. For candidates who prize the IIM brand and breadth, and can absorb the fee, IIM Lucknow is a sound alternative. Compare the latest placement reports each cycle, because the numbers move every year.

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