A candidate must hold a Bachelor’s Degree, or an equivalent qualification recognized by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India, with at least 50% marks (45% for SC/ST candidates) or equivalent CGPA, of any University incorporated by an act of the central or state legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under section 3 of UGC Act, 1956.

Candidates with minimum 3 years of relevant work-experience (as on 30th June 2012) after acquiring the bachelors’ degree are eligible to apply.

The Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification obtained by the candidate must entail a minimum of three years of education after completing higher secondary schooling (10+2) or equivalent.

In case of the candidates being awarded grades/CGPA instead of marks, the equivalence would be based on the equivalence certified by the university/ institution from where they have obtained bachelor's degree.

In case the university/ institution does not have any scheme for converting CGPA into equivalent marks, the equivalence would be established by the SPM by dividing earned CGPA with the maximum possible CGPA and multiplying the quotient with 100.