Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Chennai

What are the cutoffs for Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Chennai in 2026?

The cutoff for Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Chennai in 2026 is the NCHMCT JEE rank, and in Round 1 of 2026 counselling the B.Sc in Hospitality and Hotel Administration closed at All India Rank 2442 for the Open category, with admission opening at rank 18. IHM Chennai admits students purely through the NCHMCT JEE (the National Council for Hotel Management Joint Entrance Examination conducted by NTA), followed by centralised seat allotment. For 2026 Round 1, the closing ranks were 5465 for OBC, 8052 for EWS, 8337 for SC, 8082 for ST and 7816 for Open-PwD candidates. Because these are early-round figures, ranks typically loosen in later rounds as higher-ranked candidates move to better-preferred IHMs, so an Open-category aspirant inside roughly the top 2500-3500 has a strong Round 1 chance at IHM Chennai for the flagship B.Sc programme.

Year-Wise Cutoff Trends (2024-2026)

The table below tracks the NCHMCT JEE closing ranks for the B.Sc in Hospitality and Hotel Administration at IHM Chennai across 2024, 2025 and 2026, so you can see how competitive the Open category has been year on year and where the reserved categories sit. It answers the core question every aspirant asks: what rank actually got an offer in the most recent counselling cycle? Read it by category and year; the 2026 figures are Round 1 closing ranks (the most current cycle), while 2025 and 2024 show how the final closing rank drifted across rounds. A lower closing rank means tougher competition that year.

The standout takeaway is how much the Open-category Round 1 bar has tightened: it moved from 3609 in 2024 to 3063 in 2025 and to 2442 in 2026, meaning IHM Chennai is getting harder to crack in the first round each year. The final-round numbers tell the opposite story, showing how forgiving later counselling becomes (the Open category closed at 10005 in 2024 and 7384 in 2025 once all rounds finished). Reserved categories such as OBC, SC and ST consistently close several thousand ranks behind Open, confirming that category reservation gives meaningful relief at this institute.

Course-Wise Cutoff at Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Chennai

IHM Chennai runs two NCHMCT-linked degree programmes, and their cutoffs sit at very different levels because the postgraduate seat pool is far smaller. The table below separates the undergraduate B.Sc in Hospitality and Hotel Administration from the postgraduate M.Sc in Hospitality Administration, showing the Open-category opening and closing ranks for the most recent cycles. Use it to judge which programme matches your rank: the M.Sc closes at a sharply lower (more competitive) numeric rank because the M.Sc NCHMCT JEE has a much smaller candidate pool and only a handful of seats. Opening rank is the best rank admitted; closing rank is the last rank admitted.

The clear pattern is that the M.Sc Hospitality Administration is the numerically tightest gate at IHM Chennai, closing around rank 179 in 2025 and rank 86 in 2024 because so few seats exist, whereas the B.Sc absorbs thousands of ranks across its rounds. For most aspirants the B.Sc in Hospitality and Hotel Administration is the realistic target, and your strategy should be to lock a Round 1 seat if your Open rank is under roughly 2500-3000, since the final-round B.Sc cutoff is far more relaxed but offers no guarantee of a preferred slot.

Cutoff Trend Analysis

The cutoff at IHM Chennai is rising in early rounds, meaning competition is intensifying for first-round seats. The Open-category Round 1 closing rank fell steadily from 3609 (2024) to 3063 (2025) and 2442 (2026), a clear tightening driven by IHM Chennai's reputation as one of the premier government IHMs and the limited intake in its flagship B.Sc programme. At the same time, the final-round picture stays generous because vacancies open up as top rankers shift to other preferences, which is why the Open category still closed as high as 7384 in 2025 and 10005 in 2024 once all rounds concluded. Realistically, an Open-category candidate should aim for an All India Rank inside the top 2500 to be confident of a Round 1 offer, while ranks up to around 7000-10000 retain a genuine chance in later rounds. OBC aspirants are competitive up to roughly 5500-7700, and SC/ST candidates have closed as high as 7900-8300 in recent cycles, so reserved-category students with mid-range ranks should still list IHM Chennai as a strong choice. Score-wise, this generally corresponds to securing roughly 600 or more marks in the NCHMCT JEE for the safest Open-category position.