Search for the IIM Raipur cutoff and you will find three different “official” numbers within a minute: 90, 96.25 and sometimes 80 or 92. Aspirants end up asking the same worried question, “so what do I actually need?” The short answer is that 90 percentile only lets a General category candidate register, while 96.25 percentile is what produced a Personal Interview call. Both numbers are real. They just answer different questions.
This guide separates them cleanly. You will see the IIM Raipur CAT cut off category by category, how it has moved over recent cycles, what happens after you clear it, and what score to chase in CAT 2026 on 29 November. We checked every figure against IIM Raipur’s own admission policy, and we flag the places where published numbers disagree.
Quick Summary
- IIM Raipur admits through the Joint Admission Process (JAP) with IIM Kashipur, IIM Ranchi and IIM Tiruchirappalli. One shortlist cutoff applies to all four.
- IIM Raipur cutoff for the CAT 2025 cycle (General): 90 percentile to register, 96.25 percentile for a PI call, and 75 percentile in each section.
- Reserved categories had PI-call cutoffs of 89 (EWS), 88.5 (NC-OBC), 75 (SC), 44 (ST) and 30 (PwD).
- After the PI, a 150-mark merit list decides the offer: CAT 50, PI 40, plus academics, work experience and diversity marks.
- JAP 2027 numbers are not out yet. Treat the CAT 2025 cycle as your baseline and add a buffer.
Also Read: IIM Raipur Academic Calendar: Term-Wise Dates, Exams and Rules Explained
What Is the IIM Raipur Cutoff? Two Numbers, Not One
Most confusion around the IIM Raipur cut-off comes from mixing up two stages of the same process. JAP 2026 ran in two steps, and each step had its own percentile bar.
Stage 1: The registration floor
After CAT results, every candidate who had picked one of the four IIMs and met the minimum eligibility received an email invitation to register on the JAP portal. At this stage the minimum CAT percentile for IIM Raipur was 90 overall for General candidates, with at least 75 in each of VARC, DILR and QA. IIM Raipur’s admissions office confirmed to the education press that no profile-based criteria were used at this stage.
Registering was only a permission slip. It did not promise an interview.
Stage 2: The PI shortlist cutoff
Registered candidates were then shortlisted category-wise for the Personal Interview using CAT 2025 scores alone. This is the IIM Raipur CAT cutoff that mattered: 96.25 overall for General. The number of candidates called depended on the batch size planned for 2026-28, so IIM Raipur had discretion over how many it shortlisted.
If you take one thing from this article, take this: plan against the Stage 2 number, not the Stage 1 floor.
IIM Raipur CAT Cut Off 2026: Category-Wise Table
Here is the full picture for the cycle that filled the 2026-28 batch (based on CAT 2025 scores).
Table 1: IIM Raipur CAT cutoff by category (JAP 2026, CAT 2025 percentiles)
| Category | Minimum in each section (VARC, DILR, QA) | Stage 1: overall to register | Stage 2: overall for PI call | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | 75 | 90 | 96.25 | 6.25 |
| EWS | 60 | 75 | 89 | 14 |
| NC-OBC | 60 | 75 | 88.5 | 13.5 |
| SC | 45 | 50 | 75 | 25 |
| ST | 25 | 30 | 44 | 14 |
| PwD | 25 | 30 | 30 | 0 |
The last column is the real story. For SC candidates the PI-call percentile sat 25 points above the registration floor. For General candidates it sat 6.25 points above. Anyone who treated the floor as the target had a weak shot at a call.
Reading the sectional cutoff
The sectional limit is a pass mark in every section, not an average. A General candidate with 99.5 in QA and 72 in DILR clears the overall bar and still fails the sectional bar. That is the quiet way strong scorers lose a call, so a balanced paper is safer than one lopsided one.
IIM Raipur Cutoff Trend: How the CAT Cut Off Has Moved
A single year can mislead, so look at the published minimums across cycles. The table below uses figures from IIM Raipur’s own notifications and the JAP 2026 announcement.
Table 2: IIM Raipur cutoff trend (overall percentile, by CAT cycle)
| CAT cycle (admission year) | General | EWS | NC-OBC | SC | ST | PwD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAT 2022 (2023 admission) | 92 | 70 | 74 | 54 | 40 | 40 |
| CAT 2024 (2025 admission) | 90 | 80 | 80 | 65 | 55 | 45 |
| CAT 2025 (2026 admission): register | 90 | 75 | 75 | 50 | 30 | 30 |
| CAT 2025 (2026 admission): PI call | 96.25 | 89 | 88.5 | 75 | 44 | 30 |
Three patterns stand out.
First, the General minimum has barely moved: 92, then 90, then 90. The floor is stable, which is why so many sites repeat it.
Second, reserved-category minimums swung more. EWS rose by ten points between the CAT 2022 and CAT 2024 cycles, then eased to 75 under JAP.
Third, JAP added something new. Earlier processes shortlisted on an index that mixed CAT with Class 10, Class 12 and diversity marks. Under JAP 2026, shortlisting for the PI used CAT percentiles only, so the single 96.25 figure carries more weight than any earlier number.
A word of caution on numbers you may see elsewhere. Figures such as 80, 92 or 94 usually belong to older cycles or to a different stage. If a page does not say which CAT year and which stage it means, do not trust it.
What the IIM Raipur CAT Cut Off Does Not Tell You
The batch average is lower than the headline cutoff
The 2026-28 batch has 336 students from 28 states and union territories, with 110 candidates carrying work experience and 226 freshers. The reported average CAT percentile of the batch is 89.56, and 10 students scored above 99 percentile. That sounds odd next to a 96.25 cutoff, so read it correctly. It is a batch-wide average across all categories, and reserved-category candidates entered at much lower percentiles. It is not a General category benchmark.
Your graduation marks can cancel a great percentile
Clearing the IIM Raipur cutoff gets you to the interview. To stay on the merit list, IIM Raipur also requires a minimum graduation percentage: 60% for General, EWS and NC-OBC, 50% for SC, and 45% for ST and PwD. This is the institute’s own rule, so check it before you celebrate a 97.
After You Clear the IIM Raipur Cutoff: The 150-Mark Merit List
Once the joint PI is over, IIM Raipur builds its own category-wise merit list out of 150 marks. Offers follow that list under the Government of India reservation norms.
Table 3: IIM Raipur final score components (out of 150)
| Component | Marks | Share |
|---|---|---|
| CAT index score | 50 | 33.3% |
| Personal Interview | 40 | 26.7% |
| Class X percentage | 15 | 10% |
| Class XII / diploma percentage | 15 | 10% |
| Work experience | 15 | 10% |
| Gender diversity (female / transgender) | 8 | 5.3% |
| Profile score | 5 | 3.3% |
| Academic diversity | 2 | 1.3% |
A few details matter here. The CAT index score uses the scaled percentiles of the three sections and the overall percentile, all with equal weight. Candidates get either the gender diversity score or the academic diversity score, never both. The profile score gives 4 marks for an undergraduate degree from a top-ten NIRF 2025 institute in the listed categories and 1 mark for completing CFA Level 1, 2 or 3. Notice there is no GD or WAT line in this table; the official score is built on CAT and the PI.
Also Read: IIM Raipur Placements 2026: Average Package, Highest CTC & Placement Report
Work experience: the curve that falls
Work experience is counted in completed months up to 31 December 2025 for the last cycle, and only full-time, paid work after graduation qualifies. The scoring rises, peaks and then drops.
Table 4: IIM Raipur work experience score (out of 15)
| Completed months | Score |
|---|---|
| Below 12 | 0 |
| 12 | 0.6 |
| 24 | 7.8 |
| 28 | 10.2 |
| 35 | 14.4 |
| 36 to 42 | 15 |
| 43 to 48 | 10 |
| Above 48 | 5 |
Between 12 and 35 months you gain 0.6 marks for each extra month. Cross 48 months and the score falls to a third of its peak.
IIM Raipur CAT Cut Off for CAT 2026: Realistic Targets
CAT 2026 is on 29 November 2026, and results are expected in the last week of December. The JAP policy for the next cycle had not been published when we wrote this, so nobody can promise next year’s IIM Raipur CAT cut off. What we can do is plan with a buffer.
The targets below are our planning view, not official numbers. We add roughly one to three percentile points to last cycle’s PI-call cutoff, because shortlist cutoffs shift with applicant volume and paper difficulty.
- General: aim for 97 to 98 overall and 80+ in every section.
- EWS and NC-OBC: aim for 91+ overall and 65+ in every section.
- SC: aim for 78+ overall.
- ST: aim for 48+ overall.
Also Read: CAT 2026 Raw Score Calculator: Calculate Marks from Response Sheet
How to Check Your Own Score Against the IIM Raipur CAT Cut Off
Numbers feel abstract until you test them on a scorecard. Here are four made-up candidates, measured against the CAT 2025 cycle’s Stage 2 bar.
- Candidate A (General): 97.1 overall, with 99, 96 and 80 in the sections. She clears the overall bar of 96.25 and every section limit of 75. She is shortlist-eligible.
- Candidate B (General): 96.8 overall, but 72 in DILR. His overall percentile is above the line, yet the sectional rule knocks him out.
- Candidate C (EWS): 90.2 overall, with 65, 62 and 80 in the sections. He clears the EWS PI-call cutoff of 89 and the 60 sectional limit.
- Candidate D (NC-OBC): 88.0 overall with strong sections. She misses the 88.5 line by half a percentile, which is exactly why a buffer matters.
Notice what separates them. It is rarely raw ability; it is margin. Candidate D did nothing wrong, yet she sits half a point under the IIM Raipur CAT cutoff for her category. Because cutoffs can shift with every CAT cycle, a score that merely matches last year’s number is a gamble, not a plan.
Also remember that clearing the shortlist cutoff is only the first filter. Final merit depends on the full 150-mark score, so a candidate just above the IIM Raipur cut off with weak Class 10 and Class 12 marks can still lose out to a rival who has a stronger overall profile.
Five Mistakes Aspirants Make With the IIM Raipur Cutoff
- Treating 90 as the target. It is the registration floor, not the call line.
- Chasing overall percentile and ignoring sections. A 70 in one section ends the dream at 99 overall.
- Quoting old cycle numbers. The CAT 2022 and CAT 2024 tables differ from JAP 2026.
- Forgetting graduation marks. The 60% rule applies to the merit list.
- Waiting too long on work experience. The score drops after 42 months.
A 50-Day Plan to Beat the IIM Raipur CAT Cutoff
From today, 10 October, you have 50 days before CAT. The goal is a balanced profile that clears 75 in each section with room to spare.
- Weeks 1 and 2: take two full-length mocks and note your lowest section. That section decides your cutoff risk, not your best one.
- Weeks 3 to 5: spend about half your time on the weakest section, using the free VARC, DILR and QA Bhandara sets and the daily practice tests.
- Weeks 5 and 6: solve recent papers from the CAT previous year papers under timed conditions.
- Final week: take two or three CAT mock tests, review mistakes only, and stop learning new topics.
Frequently Asked Questions About the IIM Raipur Cutoff
What is the IIM Raipur cutoff for the General category?
For the CAT 2025 cycle, a General candidate needed 90 percentile overall to register and 96.25 percentile overall to get a PI call, with at least 75 percentile in each of VARC, DILR and QA.
What is the IIM Raipur CAT cut off for EWS, NC-OBC, SC, ST and PwD candidates?
The PI-call cutoffs were 89 for EWS, 88.5 for NC-OBC, 75 for SC, 44 for ST and 30 for PwD. The registration floors were lower: 75, 75, 50, 30 and 30 respectively.
Is there a sectional cutoff for IIM Raipur?
Yes. Every candidate must clear a minimum percentile in each of VARC, DILR and QA: 75 for General, 60 for EWS and NC-OBC, 45 for SC, and 25 for ST and PwD.
Can I get an IIM Raipur call with 90 percentile?
As a General candidate, no; 90 only allowed registration, and the PI call needed 96.25. An EWS or NC-OBC candidate with 90 percentile cleared that category’s PI-call cutoff of 89 and 88.5.
Does IIM Raipur hold a GD or WAT?
IIM Raipur’s admissions office said that, apart from the Personal Interview, no WAT, group discussion or extempore was planned for JAP 2026. The official 150-mark score has no GD or WAT component either.
Does the IIM Raipur cutoff apply to IIM Kashipur, Ranchi and Tiruchirappalli?
Yes. Registration and PI shortlisting under JAP 2026 are common to all four IIMs, so the same CAT percentile cutoffs apply across them. Each IIM then builds its own merit list after the interview.
Has the IIM Raipur cutoff for 2027 been announced?
Not as of 10 October 2026. The CAT 2026 exam is on 29 November, and admission policies are normally announced after results, so use the CAT 2025 numbers as your baseline and check the official JAP portal.
How much weightage does CAT carry at IIM Raipur?
CAT carries 50 of the 150 marks, about 33.3% of the final score. The Personal Interview carries 40 marks, about 26.7%.
Conclusion
The IIM Raipur cutoff is really two numbers: a 90 percentile registration floor and a 96.25 percentile bar for a General category PI call, plus a pass mark of 75 in each section. Reserved categories sit lower but follow the same two-stage pattern. After the interview, a 150-mark score built on CAT, the PI, academics and work experience decides who gets the offer.
For CAT 2026, aim above last cycle’s PI-call line, keep every section at 80 or higher, and verify the new policy once JAP 2027 is announced. Start with a free mock on CATMOCK, find your weakest section this week, and fix it before 29 November. Official updates will appear on the CAT website, IIM Raipur’s admission policy page and the JAP portal.
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