IMDR was established in 1974 as a constituent unit of the Deccan Education Society. It took over the MBA program of the MBA Center of the University of Pune and the DBM program, run in the BMCC (a sister institution) since 1968. Affiliated to the University of Pune, the IMDR was also a recognized centre for research leading to Ph.D. IMDR became an autonomous institution in 1977 by voluntarily delinking from the University of Pune. Their mission is "to make their teaching programs, methods of teaching and examination more comprehensive, more flexible and result-oriented.

IMDR provides opportunities to students to get international exposure through its tie-up with ESSCA one of the top management institutes of France and to attend either a semester or a summer program in ESSCA's campuses in France and Budapest. They are committed to the kind of management education, which contributes to enlightened management practice and sustained growth of organizations their student would work for. Organizations participated in the placement process are from various sectors such as IT and Software, banking, financial institutions, manufacturing, logistics, shipping and retail viz 99 Acres, Accurus Solutions, TCS, ICICI, Axis Bank, Thomson Reuters and many more.