XLRI has increased XAT 2025 Exam Cities by 45%; Check Complete List of New Cities & Likely Impact on XAT Registrations

Alert! MBA Admission 2025 Open | Apply Now
IMI New Delhi PGDM Admission Open - Apply Now	FORE New Delhi PGDM Admission - Apply Now
K J Somaiya MBA Admission Open - Apply Now	TAPMI Manipal Admission 2025- Apply Now
SDA Bocconi IMB Admission Open - Apply Now	BIMTECH PGDM Admission Open - Apply Now
IFMR KREA University MBA Admission - Apply Now	Woxsen University MBA Admission - Apply Now
Jaipuria Noida Admission Open - Apply Now	Welingkar Mumbai Admission - Apply Now
IMI Kolkata PGDM Admission Open - Apply Now	PSGIM Coimbatore MBA Admission - Apply Now

But before we talk about the rise of XAT Exam cities, here is a quick primer on XAT Exam.

XAT 2024 Registration Numbers Broke Records; XAT 2025 Registrations Rising
Conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur, XAT is the oldest MBA/PGDM entrance exam in the country with a history of more than seven decades. XAT 2025 will be held on Sunday, January 5, 2025. Registration process is currently open. Last year XAT 2024 registrations broke all records by registering an increase of almost 40 percent! XAT 2024 registrations went up to 135,000, from 98,242 registrations in XAT 2023. Check Table 1 below. 

Table 1: XAT Registration Numbers 

XAT Year	Total Number of Registrations	% Increase/ Decrease
XAT 2025	Registrations Open	--
XAT 2024	135,000	38%
XAT 2023	98,242	23%
XAT 2022	80,000	-

XAT Accepting Colleges Jump from 160 to….! 
It is no secret that popularity of any Entrance Exam is based on the quality and number of colleges which are accepting the said entrance exam scores for their admission process. While globally GMAT and GRE are popular entrance exams for MBA admissions, in India, CAT is the most popular MBA entrance exam. 

XLRI, the oldest management institution and one of the top B-schools in India, is an exception. Almost ever since it started in 1949, it is organizing its own entrance exam – XAT – for admission into PGDM program. In addition, 11 other “XAMI Members” including XIM Bhubaneshwar and LIBA, accept XAT scores.

In past about 150 B-schools were accepting the XAT scores for their admissions. In comparison, the number of CAT accepting colleges were a lot more. Realizing the gap, XLRI decided to increase the number of colleges accepting XAT 2025 score. XLRI streamlined the procedure for applying as “XAT Associate Institutes” for officially using XAT score for short listing candidates for their admission. The result? A massive 50% growth in XAT accepting colleges. Speaking to MBAUniverse.com, XAT convenor Dr Rahul Shukla said: “We are pleased to announce that the number of institutes accepting XAT scores has increased from 160 to over 250 this year.” 

XAT Exam Cities Increased from 76 to…
It should be noted that in the past, XLRI used to conduct XAT exam in about 70 cities. In comparison, the number of CAT exam cities were more than 150. Many parts in India remained untouched and the candidates did not get any motivation to apply for XAT as they had to travel long distances to appear in the exam. 

From this year, XLRI has taken the bold step to increase the number of XAT exam centres. Responding to MBAUniverse.com query, Dr Rahul Shukla said, “Yes, we have increased the number of XAT test cities by 34 to 110 cities for XAT 2025.” In percentage terms, this is a massive 45% increase!

With 110 cities, XAT exam has the second largest footprint amongst the top MBA exams in India. When asked the rationale for this expansion, Dr Shukla said: “This expansion aims to make the exam more accessible to aspirants across the country.”

Table 2: XAT Exam Cities

XAT Year	Number of XAT Cities	Increase/ Decrease
XAT 2025	110	34 New Cities Added
XAT 2024	76	4 New Cities Added
XAT 2023	72	2 New Cities Added
XAT 2022	70	-

Non-Metros from North and West India Added as New XAT Exam Cities 

A closer analysis of new cities added reveals that most of the 34 new XAT Exam cities are the non-metro or class-2 or class-3 cities. Geographically speaking, most cities fall into North and West India. Here is the complete list of new XAT Cities:

Ajmer, Aligarh, Anantapur, Arrah, Baddi, Balasore, Bareilly, Bhagalpur, Bikaner, Bilaspur, Chikkaballapur, Darbhanga, Davanagere, Dhenkanal, Haldwani, Hazaribagh, Hisar, Jodhpur, Kalaburagi (Gulbarga), Kalyani, Karimnagar, Kolhapur, Kurukshetra, Mehsana, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Muzaffarpur, Nanded, Patiala, Salem, Shimla, Sikar, Ujjain, Vellore.

Alert! MBA Admission 2025 Open | Apply Now
JAGSoM PGDM Admission Open- Apply Now	Amrita Coimbatore MBA Admission- Apply Now
NIA Pune PGDM Admission Open- Apply Now	Jaipuria Lucknow Admission Open - Apply Now
XIME Bangalore Admission Open- Apply  Now	MDI Murshidabad Admission Open - Apply Now
NDIM New Delhi Admission 2025 - Apply Now	SSN Chennai MBA Admission Open- Apply Now
IBA Bangalore PGDM Admission - Apply Now	Amrita Bangalore MBA Admission- Apply Now
Welingkar Bangalore Admission - Apply Now	FLAME University Pune MBA Admission - Apply Now
Sri Balaji University MBA Admission- Apply Now	SDMIMD PGDM Admission Open - Apply Now

Likely Impact of Expansion in XAT Cities & Colleges
This significant increase in the total number of XAT accepting colleges and XAT exam centers is expected to have a positive impact on total number of XAT registrations.
While it is early days, XAT Convenor Dr Rahul Shukla informed MBAUniverse.com that “XAT 2025 Registrations are showing an upward trend.” XAT 2025 Registrations opened on July 15, and will be closed on November 30, 2024. 

According to MBAUniverse.com rankings, top XAT accepting colleges are XLRI Jamshedpur, XIM University Bhubaneshwar, MICA Ahmedabad, IMI New Delhi, TAPMI Manipal, Great Lakes Chennai, IMT Ghaziabad, GIM Goa and K J Somaiya Mumbai. Check complete list of XAT Accepting Colleges. 

Also Read:

• “XLRI has changed XAT Pattern to Align with Required Competencies for Management Education and Leadership,” XAT Convener Dr Rahul Shukla Tells MBAUniverse.com
• XAT Accepting Colleges Jump from 160 to……! XAT Convenor Dr Rahul Shukla Reveals