Navi Mumbai stays on the CAT 2026 city list, under the new name Navi Mumbai-Raigad/Rasayani, as reported. Maharashtra added 8 cities this year. If you have already registered, your five choices are fixed. Your admit card, out from 4 November, will show the centre you got.
What changed, as reported
| Change | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total cities | About 170, similar to 2025 |
| Maharashtra added | Bhiwandi, Chandrapur, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Nanded, Palghar-Boisar-Vasai, Wardha, Baramati |
| Maharashtra dropped | None listed |
| Renamed | Mumbai/Thane to Mumbai-Thane. Navi Mumbai/Raigad to Navi Mumbai-Raigad/Rasayani. Ahmednagar to Ahilyanagar. Aurangabad to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar |
| Pune | Not listed as changed |
What it means around Kharghar, Nerul, Belapur and Panvel
- Navi Mumbai students: your city is still on the list. The new name does not change where you sit.
- Panvel students: the source does not list Panvel on its own. Check the official list before you assume anything.
- Palghar-Boisar-Vasai is new, but it is far from Navi Mumbai. It matters if you live north of Mumbai.
How allotment works
You list five cities in order. The testing agency allots centres on availability, and if your first choice is full you move down the list. That is why the order should start with the city you can reach most easily on exam morning.
Where this doesn’t apply
Registration is closed, so you cannot change cities now unless the official site announces a window. This post reports one portal’s reading of the list. The official CAT site is the source of record, and we could not open it from our workspace.
City changes from Careers360’s “CAT 2026 test city list changed” article. Third-party. We could not open iimcat.ac.in. The article says the admit card, due 4 November, carries the centre code.