MUMBAI: The number of registrations for the Common Admission Test ( CAT ) 2014 for entry to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) has fallen to a new low of 1,89,759, despite six proposed IIMs being added to the existing 13.So are the IIMs somehow losing their lustre? Not quite, say the experts. But they need to do something about promoting CAT — fewer non-IIM schools now accept it as an avenue for admission. About 1.96 lakh vouchers were sold last year, with registrations for the test closing at a little over 1.94 lakh. This in itself marked a seven-year low, down nearly 33% from the peak in 2008.This is in contrast with the findings of Global Management Admission Council 2014 Applications Trends survey released end-September, which states that for the second year in a row, a majority of full-time, two-year MBA programmes globally reported rising or stable application volumes. According to GMAC, in 2014, 61% of schools globally teaching two-year degrees saw a rise in applications, up from 50% of schools in 2013.While India-specific figures are not yet available for 2014, the percentage increase in the number of GMAT test takers from India over 2010-2013 is 25%. In contrast, the number of CAT takers has dropped 7.35% from 2.04 lakh in CAT 2010. The highest number of GMAT exams was delivered in India in 2013. In all, 22,878 candidates took the test from India in 2013 compared with 22,310 a year ago and 18,321 in 2010.Narayanan Ramaswamy, partner and head, education & skill development, KPMG in India, says the time has come to question whether the CAT as an examination is contemporary or not."IIMs are not coming down in their popularity. The number of aspirants for IIMs may not have reduced, but there is a reduction in the number of people who use CAT as their means of getting to top B-schools," he said."Everything needs promotion . CAT needs to have a team working on popularising it." While six proposed IIMs have been added to the existing ones, there has been a decline in the number of non-IIM business schools that accept CAT marks for admission, following the CAT 2012 controversy. Around 90 or so such schools will accept CAT scores this year for admission, compared with close to 150 a few years ago.Also, added Ramaswamy, new IIMs need to find a way to differentiate themselves and create a proper positioning among a glut of management institutes. "Otherwise students would opt for other wellknown B-schools which may not use CAT as an entry examination." Sankarshan Basu, chairperson, Career Development Services, IIM-Bangalore, said a number of students who know that they won’t make it to a top Indian B-school hrough CAT are looking at alternatives abroad."There is this craze for an overseas degree . Many of those who don’t make it to top-ranked B-schools abroad are willing to go down the ladder and look at lowerranked institutes," he says. GMAC survey also states that since 2012, much of the growth in US full-time twoyear MBA programmes stems from increased overseas admissions.This year, 65% of US programmes report receiving more applications from foreign candidates, up from 56% in 2013, and 41% in 2012. US schools report that India and China are largest sources of foreign candidates.CAT 2014 convenor Rohit Kapoor of IIM Indore said that even after September 30, the last day of online registrations, he got frequent calls requesting an extension of the deadline. "The load was extremely high on the last day and the maximum number of registrations, in fact, happened on the last few days."