Difference Between OTA Chennai and IMA Dehradun

There is no doubt that every defence aspirants know about the IMA Dehradun and OTA Chennai. Both are the premier training academies of the Indian Army and successfully giving brave officers to our country.

If you are new here and wondering how both IMA and OTA Chennai are different and which one you should join, then you are at the right place. Here we are going to know about the IMA Ddehradun and OTA Chennai.

If you are going to apply for the Indian Army then there are two terms that you’ll come across a number of times. These two terms are OTA and IMA. To be able to fill the application correctly, understanding and matching your preference it is necessary that you are clear with the meaning and the difference between these two terms.

OTA stands for Officers Training Academy and IMA stands for Indian Military Academy, both are honorable institutions for developing, changing, and training the young guns of India and transforming them into Army officers.

• SSB Interview eBook Pack
• Thematic Apperception Test – TAT
• Lecturette Topics Part-1 eBook [100 Topics]
• Word Association Test – WAT
• Situation Reaction Test – SRT
• Officers Intelligence Test – OIR

Mostly the educational qualifications for joining both of these institutions of the Army are the same but there are some other differences between the two. You have to pass a written test and get recommended by the SSB Interview for joining any of the two.  

Also Read

• How to Join Indian Military Academy Dehradun
• How to Join Officers Training Academy (OTA) Chennai

Major differences between OTA and IMA

1. OTA is where ladies and gentlemen both are trained into officers but in IMA only gentlemen can be inducted.
2. There are two OTA’s one in Chennai and another one in Gaya (Gentleman Cadets of NDA and 10+2 TES are sent here in the last year of their training), and there is only one IMA which is in Dehradun.
3. The Officers Training Academy, Chennai (OTA) is a training establishment of the Indian Army that trains officers for the Short Service Commission (SSC). The Indian Military Academy, Dehradun (also known as IMA) is the officer training Academy of the Indian Army that trains officers for the Permanent Commission(PC).
4. If you are applying for the IMA then you need to be 19 to 24 years of age while for OTA 19 to 25 years of age is required.
5. If you are willing to join the Indian Army through CDSE then the candidates who are willing t go for OTA do not have to appear for the paper of Mathematics whereas those who are for IMA have to appear for the Mathematics exam.
6. Thus for OTA, you have to appear for English and GK in CDSE but for IMA you have to appear for English, GK and Mathematics in CDSE.
7. IMA provide you the opportunity to join army and serve for 30 years maximum. Whereas OTA is for only 14 years and not for life term service (in some cases the service is extensible to Permanent Commission).
8. Also the cutoff marks for IMA is generally higher than that for OTA in CDSE. This is obvious also since in IMA there are three papers which a candidate has to appear in whereas in OTA there are only two.

Which Is Better?

There is nothing better or worse when we talk about the Army; it’s just your eligibility and your own will. Well of course women aspirants don’t have an option except OTA to join the Indian Army. The gentlemen however have an option. Without saying much I would like to ask you that if given a chance to be in the prestigious Indian Army how much would you like to stay? Longer I guess? Then I hope you have got which one to join!  

Also Read

• Officers Training Academy, Gaya
• Indian Naval Academy