The Mathematical Olympiad Programme in India, which leads to participation of Indian students in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is organized by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) on behalf of the National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM) of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India. This programme is one of the major initiatives undertaken by the NBHM. Its main purpose is to spot mathematical talent among pre-university students in the country.
For the purpose of training and selection of students for the Olympiad contest, 25 regions all over the country have been designated and each assigned a Regional Coordinator (RC). Additionally, three groups (Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathana (KVS) have a ‘Regional Coordinator’ each. The Mathematical Olympiad programme consists of six stages.
International Mathematics Olympiad has been conducted by National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM) NBHM from 1986 onwards and is currently run in collaboration with the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mumbai.
This exam was started in 1959 in Romania. India had been participating in IMO since 1989 and has been winning at least an honorable mention of most years.
IMO is conducted in six stages with the first five being conducted in India (by HBCSE) and the last one is a member country (different each year).
The final stages are IMO where students represent their country on an international stage.