 Campus ofIIT Kharagpur, oldest and one of 23 IITs | |
Other name | IIT or IITs (plural) |
|---|---|
| Type | Public technical institute |
| Established | 15 May 1950 (75 years ago) (1950-05-15) |
Parent institution | Ministry of Education,Government of India |
| Budget | ₹11,349 crore (US$1.3 billion) (FY2024–25 est.)[1] |
| Visitor | President of India |
| Location | |
| Language | English |
| Website | iitsystem |
TheIndian Institutes of Technology (IIT) are a network of autonomous public engineering and technology institutions in India. Established in 1950, they are under the purview of theMinistry of Education of theGovernment of India and are governed by theInstitutes of Technology Act, 1961. The Act designates them asInstitutes of National Importance and lays down their powers, duties, and governance framework as the country's premier institutions in the field of technology.[4] There are currently 23 IITs functioning under this act.[5] Each IIT operates autonomously and is linked to the others through a common council called the IIT Council, which oversees their administration. TheMinister of Education (India) serves as theex officio chairperson of the IIT Council.[6]
In the late 1940s, a 22-member committee, headed byNalini Ranjan Sarkar, recommended the establishment of these institutions in various parts of India, along the lines of theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), withaffiliated secondary institutions.[44]
The first Indian Institute of Technology was founded in May 1950 at the site of theHijli Detention Camp inKharagpur,West Bengal.[45] The name "Indian Institute of Technology" was adopted before the formal inauguration of the institute on 18 August 1951 byMaulana Abul Kalam Azad.[46]
On 15 September 1956, theParliament of India passed theIndian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) Act, declaring it as anInstitute of National Importance.Jawaharlal Nehru, firstPrime Minister of India, in the first convocation address of IIT Kharagpur in 1956, said:[47]
Here in the place of that Hijli Detention Camp stands the fine monument of India, representing India's urges, India's future in the making. This picture seems to me symbolically of the changes coming to India.
On the recommendations of the Sarkar Committee, four campuses were established atBombay (1958),Madras (1959),Kanpur (1959), andDelhi (1961). The locations of these campuses were chosen to be scattered throughout India to prevent regional imbalance.[48] TheIndian Institutes of Technology Act was amended to reflect the addition of new IITs.[7]
In the tenth meeting of IIT Council in 1972, it was also proposed to convert the then IT-BHU into an IIT and a committee was appointed by IIT Council for the purpose but because of political reasons, the desired conversion could not be achieved then.[49] IT-BHU had been taking admissions throughIndian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) for undergraduate courses andGraduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) for postgraduate courses since 1972. Finally, in 2012 theInstitute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University was made a member of the IITs and renamed asIIT (BHU) Varanasi.[28]
Student agitations in the state ofAssam made Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi promise the creation of a new IIT in Assam. This led to the establishment of a sixth institution atGuwahati under theAssam Accord in 1994.
In 2001, theUniversity of Roorkee was converted into IIT Roorkee.[18]Over the past few years, there have been several developments toward establishing new IITs. On 1 October 2003, Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee announced plans to create more IITs "by upgrading existing academic institutions that have the necessary promise and potential".[50] Subsequent developments led to the formation of the S K Joshi Committee, in November 2003, to guide the selection of the five institutions which would be converted into IITs. Based on the initial recommendations of the Sarkar Committee, it was decided that new IITs should be spread throughout the country. When the government expressed its willingness to correct this regional imbalance, 16 states demanded IITs. Since the S K Joshi Committee prescribed strict guidelines for institutions aspiring to be IITs,[51] only seven colleges were selected for final consideration.[52] Plans are also reported to open IITs outside India, although there has not been much progress in this regard.[53] Eventually in the 11thFive year plan, eight states were identified for establishment of new IITs.
From 2008 to 2009, eight new IITs were set up inGandhinagar,Jodhpur,Hyderabad,Indore,Patna,Bhubaneswar,Ropar, andMandi.
In 2015 and 2016, six new IITs were established inTirupati,Palakkad,Dharwad,Bhilai,Goa, andJammu, as approved by a 2016 bill amendment, along with the conversion ofIndian School of Mines Dhanbad intoIIT, Dhanbad.[34]
The entire allocation by the central government for the 2017–18 budget for all Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) was slightly over₹70 billion (US$830 million). However, the aggregate money spent by Indian students for tertiary education in the United States was about six times more than what the central government spends on all IITs.[54]
In June 2023, education officials of India andTanzania announced that the first foreign IIT campus would be established on the Tanzanian autonomous territory ofZanzibar, as a satellite campus ofIIT Madras. The campus is scheduled to begin offering classes in October 2023.[55]
ThePresident of India is theex officioVisitor,[56] and hasresidual powers. Directly under the President is the IIT Council, comprising minister-in-charge of technical education in the Union Government, the Chairmen of all IITs, the Directors of all IITs, the Chairman of theUniversity Grants Commission, the Director General ofCSIR, the Chairman ofIISc, the Director of IISc, three members of Parliament, the Joint Council Secretary of Ministry of Education, and three appointees each of the Union Government,AICTE, and the Visitor.[57]
Under the IIT Council is theBoard of Governors of each IIT. Under the Board of Governors is theDirector, who is the chief academic and executive officer of the IIT.[58] Under the Director, in the organisational structure, comes theDeputy Director. Under the Director and the deputy director, come theDeans, Heads of Departments,Registrar, President of the Students' Council, and Chairman of the Hall Management Committee. TheRegistrar is the chief administrative officer of the IIT and overviews the day-to-day operations.[58] Below the Heads of Department (HOD) are the faculty members (Professors, Associate Professors, and Assistant Professors). TheWardens come under the Chairman of the Hall Management Committee.[59]
The Institute of Technology Act (parliamentary legislation) gives legal status, including degree-granting powers, to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). It was notified in the gazette as Act Number 59 of 1961 on 20 December 1961 and came into effect on 1 April 1962. The Act also declares these institutes asInstitutes of National Importance.[7][60]
The IITs receive comparatively higher grants than other engineering colleges in India.[61] While the total government funding to most other engineering colleges is around₹ 100–200 million ($2–4 million) per year, the amount varies between₹ 900–1300 million ($19–27 million) per year for each IIT.[52] Other sources of funds include student fees and research funding from industry and contributions from the alumni. The faculty-to-student ratio in the IITs is between 1:6 and 1:8.[62] The Standing Committee of IIT Council (SCIC) prescribes the lower limit for faculty-to-student ratio as 1:9, applied department wise. The IITs subsidize undergraduate student fees by approximately 80% and provide scholarships to allMaster of Technology students andResearch Scholars (PhD) to encourage students for higher studies, per the recommendations of the Thacker Committee (1959–1961).[63] The cost borne by undergraduate students is around₹280,000 per year. Students from theOBC,ST, SC categories, female students as well asphysically challenged students are also entitled to scholarships.[64][65]
The various IITs function autonomously, and their special status asInstitutes of National Importance facilitates the smooth running of IITs, virtually free from both regional as well as student politics. Such autonomy means that IITs can create their curricula and adapt rapidly to the changes in educational requirements, free from bureaucratic hurdles. The government has no direct control over internal policy decisions of IITs (like faculty recruitment and curricula) but has representation on theIIT Council. The medium of instruction in all IITs is English.[66] The electronic libraries allow students to access online journals and periodicals. The IITs andIISc, Bengaluru have taken an initiative along withMinistry of Education to provide free online videos of actual lectures of different disciplines underNational Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning. This initiative is undertaken to make quality education accessible to all students.[67]
The academic policies of each IIT are decided by itsSenate. This comprises all professors of the IIT and student representatives. Unlike many Western universities that have an elected senate, the IITs have an academic senate. It controls and approves the curriculum, courses, examinations and results, and appoints committees to look into specific academic matters. The teaching, training and research activities of the institute are periodically reviewed by the senate to maintain educational standards.[68] TheDirector of an IIT is the ex-officio Chairman of the Senate.
All the IITs follow the credits system of performance evaluation, with proportional weighting of courses based on their importance. The total marks (usually out of 100) form the basis ofgrades, with a grade value (out of 10) assigned to a range of marks. Sometimes, relative grading is done considering the overall performance of the whole class. For each semester, the students are graded on a scale of 0 to 10 based on their performance, by taking a weighted average of the grade points from all the courses, with their respective credit points. Each semester evaluation is done independently and then the weighted average over all semesters is used to calculate the cumulativeGrade Point Average (known as CGPA or CPI—Cumulative Performance Index).
TheBachelor of Technology (BTech) degree is the most common undergraduate degree in the IITs in terms of student enrollment,[citation needed] althoughBachelor of Science (BS) degree, dual degrees integratingMaster of Science orMaster of Arts are also offered. The BTech course is based on a 4-year program with eight semesters,[69] while the Dual Degree and Integrated courses are 5-year programs with ten semesters. In all IITs, the first year of BTech and Dual Degree courses are marked by a common course structure for all the students, though in some IITs, a single department introduction-related course is also included.[70] The common courses include the basics from most of the departments like Computers, Electronics, Mechanics, Chemistry, Electrical and Physics. At the end of the first year (the end of the first semester at IIT Madras, IIT Bhilai, IIT Palakkad, and IIT Roorkee), an option to change departments is given to meritorious students based on their performance in the first two semesters.[71] Few such changes ultimately take place as the criteria for them are usually strict,[71] limited to the most meritorious students. Many IITs, such as IIT Bombay, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Kharagpur have abolished the practice of branch-change in order to reduce stress. Department-specific courses also begin earlier.
From the second year onward, the students study subjects exclusively from their respective departments.[72] In addition to these, the students have to take compulsory advanced courses from other departments to broaden their education. Separate compulsory courses fromhumanities andsocial sciences departments, and sometimes management courses are also enforced.[73] In the last year of their studies, most of the students are placed into industries and organisations via the placement process of the respective IIT, though some students opt out of this either when going for higher studies or when they take up jobs by applying to the companies directly.[74]
Certain IITs, such as IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Hyderabad and IIT Gandhinagar, offer students the option to pursue a double major degree, allowing them to graduate with majors in different disciplines. Most IITs also allow students to graduate with undergraduate minors (from a different discipline) and/or honours (from the same discipline as the major).
The IITs offer several postgraduate programs includingMaster of Technology (MTech),Master of Business Administration (MBA), andMaster of Science (MSc). Some IITs offer specialised graduate programmes such asMaster of Design (M.Des.), the Post Graduate Diploma in Information Technology (PGDIT),Masters in Medical Science and Technology (MMST),Masters in City Planning (MCP),Master of Arts (MA), Postgraduate Diploma inintellectual property Law (PGDIPL), and the Postgraduate Diploma in Maritime Operation & Management (PGDMOM).
Some of the IITs offer an M.S. (by research) program; the MTech and M.S. are similar to the US universities' non-thesis (course-based) and thesis (research-based) masters programs respectively. Admissions to master's programs in engineering are made using scores of theGraduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE), while those to master's programs in science are made using scores of theJoint Admission Test for M.Sc. (JAM).
Several IITs have schools of management offering master's degrees in management or business administration.
In April 2015, IIT Bombay launched the first U.S.-India joint EMBA program alongsideWashington University in St. Louis.[75]
The IITs also offer an unconventional BTech and MTech integrated educational program called "Dual Degree". It integrates undergraduate and postgraduate studies in selected areas of specialisation. It is completed in five years[76] as against six years in conventional BTech (four years) followed by an MTech (two years).[77] Integrated Master of Science programs are also offered at few IITs which integrates the Undergraduate and Postgraduate studies in Science streams in a single degree program against the conventional university system. These programs were started to allow its graduates to complete postgraduate studies from IIT rather than having to go to another institute.
The IITs also offer the Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) as part of theirdoctoral education programme. In it, the candidates are given a topic of academic interest by the ins or have to work on a consultancy project given by the industries. The duration of the program is usually unspecified and depends on the specific discipline. PhD candidates have to submit adissertation as well as provide an oral defence for their thesis.Teaching Assistantships (TA) andResearch Assistantships (RA) are often provided.
The IITs, along with NITs and IISc, account for nearly 80% of all engineering PhDs in India.[78] IITs now allow admission in PhD programs without the mandatoryGATE score.[79][80]
All the IITs provide on-campus residential facilities to the students, research scholars and faculty. The students live inhostels (sometimes referred to ashalls) throughout their stay in the IIT. Students in all IITs must choose amongNational Cadet Corps (NCC),National Service Scheme (NSS) andNational Sports Organisation (NSO) in their first years.[81] All the IITs have sports grounds forbasketball,cricket,football (soccer),hockey,volleyball,lawn tennis,badminton, athletics and swimming pools for aquatic events. Usually, the hostels also have their own sports grounds.
Moreover, anInter IIT Sports Meet is organised annually where participants from all 23 IITs contest for the General Championship Trophy in 13 different sports. Along with Inter IIT Cultural Meet and Tech Meet, all of them generally happening on various dates in the month of December every year.
All IITs organize annual technical festivals, typically lasting three or four days. The technical festivals areShaastra (IIT Madras), Advitiya (IIT Ropar), Kshitij (IIT Kharagpur),Techfest (IIT Bombay), Technex (IIT-BHU Varanasi), Cognizance (IIT Roorkee), Concetto (IIT-ISM Dhanbad), Tirutsava (IIT Tirupati), Nvision (IIT Hyderabad), Meraz (IIT Bhilai), Amalthea, (IIT Gandhinagar),Techkriti (IIT Kanpur), Tryst (IIT Delhi),Techniche (IIT Guwahati),Wissenaire (IIT Bhubaneswar), Technunctus (IIT Jammu), Xpecto (IIT Mandi), Fluxus (IIT Indore), Celesta (IIT Patna) andIGNUS (IIT Jodhpur) Petrichor(IIT Palakkad). Most of them are organized in January or March. Techfest (IIT Bombay) is also one of the most popular and largest technical festivals in Asia in terms of participants and prize money involved. It has been granted patronage from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) for providing a platform for students to showcase their talent in science and technology. Shaastra holds the distinction of being the first student-managed event in the world to implement a formalQuality Management System, earningISO 9001:2000 certification.[82] Kshitij, which is branded as a techno-management festival due to its emphasis on both technology and management, is the largest of these festivals by sponsorship money.
Annualcultural festivals are also organized by the IITs and last three to four days. These includeThomso (IIT Roorkee),Kashiyatra (IIT BHU Varanasi),Alcheringa (IIT Guwahati),Exodia (IIT Mandi),Saarang andParadox (annual fests of IIT Madras BTech and BS Degree respectively),Spring Fest (IIT Kharagpur, also known as SF),Rendezvous (IIT Delhi), Meraz (IIT Bhilai), Tirutsava (IIT Tirupati), Srijan, (earlier known as Saturnalia, IIT Dhanbad), Tarang (culfest) (previously Rave),Anwesha (IIT Patna), SPANDAN (IIT Jodhpur), Renao (IIT Jammu), Petrichor (IIT Palakkad),Blithchron (IIT Gandhinagar), ELAN (IIT Hyderabad),Alma Fiesta (IIT Bhubaneswar),Mood Indigo (IIT Bombay, also known as Mood-I),Antaragni (IIT Kanpur) and Zeitgeist (IIT Ropar).
IITs have generally ranked as the top engineering colleges in India. In the 2025NIRF rankings published byMinistry of Education, India, the IITs also hold the following top 10 positions in various categories:
IIT Madras has been ranked 1st for ten consecutive years in the Engineering Category and for seven consecutive years in the Overall Category.[83]
| Name | 2025NIRF Engineering[84] | 2024NIRF Engineering[85] | 2023NIRF Engineering[86] | 2022NIRF Engineering[87] | 2025NIRF Overall[88] | 2024NIRF Overall[89] | 2023NIRF Overall[90] | 2022NIRF Overall[91] | 2021NIRF Overall[92] | 2020NIRF Overall[93] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IIT Madras | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| IIT Delhi | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| IIT Bombay | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| IIT Kanpur | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| IIT Kharagpur | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| IIT Roorkee | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 |
| IIT Hyderabad | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 22 |
| IIT Guwahati | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 |
| IIT (BHU) Varanasi | 10 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 31 | 30 | 31 | 28 | 26 | 28 |
| IIT Indore | 12 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 27 | 33 | 28 | 30 | 23 | N/A |
| IIT (ISM) Dhanbad | 15 | 15 | 17 | 14 | 35 | 35 | 42 | 26 | 22 | 25 |
| IIT Patna | 19 | 34 | 41 | 33 | 36 | 73 | 66 | 51 | 54 | 58 |
| IIT Gandhinagar | 25 | 18 | 18 | 23 | 39 | 29 | 24 | 33 | 35 | 51 |
| IIT Mandi | 26 | 31 | 33 | 20 | 58 | 72 | 73 | 82 | 67 | 44 |
| IIT Jodhpur | 27 | 28 | 30 | 30 | 66 | 68 | 66 | N/A | ||
| IIT Ropar | 32 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 56 | 48 | 33 | 31 | 39 | 29 |
| IIT Bhubaneswar | 39 | 54 | 47 | 36 | 80 | N/A | 91 | 58 | 56 | 46 |
| IIT Jammu | 56 | 62 | 67 | N/A | N/A | |||||
| IIT Tirupati | 57 | 61 | 59 | 56 | ||||||
| IIT Palakkad | 64 | 64 | 69 | 68 | ||||||
| IIT Bhilai | 72 | 73 | 81 | N/A | ||||||
| IIT Dharwad | 77 | N/A | 93 | N/A | ||||||
| IIT Goa | 101-150 | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||||||
According toOutlook India's Top Engineering Colleges of 2017, the top four engineering colleges within India were IITs.[94] In 2026QS World University Ranking, IIT Delhi ranked highest at 123, followed by IIT Bombay (129), IIT Madras (180), IIT Kharagpur (215), IIT Kanpur (222).[95] Five IITs are ranked within Top 100 among QS World Engineering ranking.
| Name | 2026QS Engineering[95] | 2026QS World[96] | 2023QS World[97] | 2022QS World[98] | 2021QS World[99] | 2022QS Asia[100] | 2020QS India[101] | Times World[102] | Times Asia[103] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IIT Delhi | 26 | 123 | 185 | 193 | 182 | 45 | 3 | 401–500 (2020) | 67 (2020) |
| IIT Bombay | 28 | 129 | 177 | 172 | 152 | 42 | 1 | 401–500 (2020) | 69 (2020) |
| IIT Madras | 53 | 180 | 255 | 275 | 271 | 54 | 4 | 601–800 (2020) | 125 (2020) |
| IIT Kharagpur | 60 | 215 | 280 | 314 | 281 | 60 | 5 | 401–500 (2020) | 59 (2020) |
| IIT Kanpur | 72 | 222 | 277 | 350 | 291 | 64 | 6 | 601–800 (2020) | 125 (2020) |
| IIT Roorkee | 131 | 339 | 400 | 383 | 383 | 109 | 9 | 501–600 (2020) | 83 (2020) |
| IIT Guwahati | 140 | 334 | 395 | 470 | 491 | 119 | 10 | 601–800 (2020) | 160 (2020) |
| IIT Hyderabad | 501-550 | 664 | N/A | 224 | 15 | 601–800 (2021) | 144 (2021) | ||
| IIT (BHU) Varanasi | 501-550 | 566 | 281–290 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||
| IIT Indore | N/A | 556 | 178 | 13 | 401–500 (2022) | 78 (2021) | |||
| IIT Gandhinagar | 801-850 | 301–350 | N/A | 601–800 (2022) | N/A | ||||
| IIT Bhubaneswar | 951-1000 | 251–260 | 20 | 1001–1200 (2022) | 251–300 (2021) | ||||
| IIT (ISM) Dhanbad | N/A | 251–260 | 46 | 1001–1200 (2022) | 201–250 (2021) | ||||
| IIT Mandi | N/A | N/A | 1001–1200 (2022) | N/A | |||||
| IIT Ropar | 261–270 | 25 | 351–400 (2022) | 55 (2021) | |||||
| IIT Patna | 301–350 | 36 | 801–1000 (2022) | 301–350 (2021) | |||||
| IIT Jodhpur | N/A | ||||||||
| IIT Tirupati | |||||||||
| IIT Palakkad | |||||||||
| IIT Bhilai | |||||||||
| IIT Dharwad | |||||||||
| IIT Jammu | |||||||||
| IIT Goa | |||||||||
IITs practice affirmative action and offer reservation to the "backward and weaker sections" of the society that includes SC/ST/OBC-NCL/EWS/PWD/Girl candidates. About 50% of seats are reserved for candidates holding backward-caste certificates, and 10% seats are further reserved for candidates from general (unreserved) category who fulfill the economically weaker section criteria. Furthermore, students from reserved categories pay significantly lower fees compared to students from the unreserved category. 20% of the seats are reserved for female students, and 5% of the seats are reserved for students with benchmark disability.
Despite the implementation of reservation policies, provision of economic assistance, and enforcement of theScheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, IITs have faced allegations of caste-based discrimination. Instances of suicides among students from reserved categories are often cited to illustrate this ongoing issue.[104][105][106][107][108][109] However, it's important to note that the suicide rates appear to be consistent among students from both reserved and non-reserved categories.[110]
The IITs have faced criticism from within and outside academia. Major concerns include allegations that they encourage brain drain and that their stringent entrance examinations encourage coaching colleges and put heavy pressure on the student's body. Recently some prominent IITians have also questioned the quality of teaching and research in IITs.[111][112]
With the tripling the number of IITs in recent decades, the newly created institutes have struggled to establish themselves compared to their peers. A 2021 report byComptroller and Auditor General of India criticized the newer IITs for not meeting targets for research, faculty and student recruitment, students retention, as well as for being beset with infrastructure delays.[113][114]
In the recent past, the number of student suicides has attracted significant attention.[115]
According to data obtained throughRight to Information (RTI) applications, approximately 38% of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) graduates from the class of 2024 have not secured job placements.[116][117] This is the highest percentage in the past three years, with a steady increase from 19% in 2021 and 21% in 2022.[118][119][117][116]
Among the criticisms of the IIT system by the media and academia, a common notion is that it encouragesbrain drain. Untilliberalisation started in the early 1990s, India experienced large scale emigration of IIT graduates to developed countries, especially to the United States. Since 1953, nearly twenty-five thousand IIT graduates have settled in the US.[120] Since the US benefited from subsidized education in IITs at the cost of Indian taxpayers' money, critics say that subsidising education in IITs is useless. Others support the emigration of graduates, arguing that the capital sent home by the IIT graduates has been a major source of the expansion offoreign exchange reserves for India, which, until the 1990s, had a substantialtrade deficit.[citation needed] A 2023 study by theNational Bureau of Economic Research found that among the top 1,000 JEE scorers, 36% migrated abroad, while for the top 100 scorers, the rate was 62%, primarily to the U.S. and for graduate school.[121]
This trend has been reversed somewhat (dubbed thereverse brain drain) as hundreds of IIT graduates, who have pursued further studies in the US, started returning to India in the 1990s.[122] The extent of intellectual loss receded substantially over the 1990s and 2000s, with the percentage of students going abroad dropping from as high as 70% at one time to around 30% in 2005.[122] This is largely attributed to the liberalization of theIndian economy and the opening of previously closed markets. Government initiatives are encouraging IIT students into entrepreneurship programs and are increasing foreign investment. Emerging scientific and manufacturing industries, andoutsourcing of technical jobs from North America and Western Europe have created opportunities for aspiring graduates in India. Additionally, IIT alumni are giving back generously to their parent institutions.[123]
One factor of brain drain has been attributed to the reservation of seats in IITs, particularly for underprivileged and scheduled castes and tribes.[124] The reservation system, without reforms, has denied fair opportunities to unreserved students, who opt for other universities worldwide, many of which are top ranked.[125]
The highly competitive examination in the form ofJEE-Advanced has led to the establishment of a large number of coaching institutes throughout the country that provide intensive, and specific preparation for the JEE-Advanced for substantial fees. It is argued that this favours students from specific regions and richer backgrounds. Some coaching institutes say that they have individually coached nearly 800 successful candidates year after year.[126] According to some estimates, nearly 95% of all students who clear the JEE-Advanced had joined coaching classes.[127] Indeed, this was the case regarding preparation for IIT entrance exams even decades ago. In a January 2010 lecture at theIndian Institute of Science, the 2009 Nobel laureate in Chemistry,Venkatraman Ramakrishnan revealed that he failed to get a seat at any of the Indian engineering and medical colleges.[128] He also said that his parents, being old-fashioned, did not believe in coaching classes to prepare for the IIT entrance exam and considered them to be "nonsense".[128]
In a documentary aired byCBS,Vinod Khosla, co-founder ofSun Microsystems states, "The IITs probably are the hardest schools in the world to get into, to the best of my knowledge".[129] The documentary further concludes, "PutHarvard,MIT, andPrinceton together, and you begin to get an idea of the status of IIT in India" to depict the competition as well as demand for the elite institutes. Furthermore, the IITs, despite being premier institutions, do not acceptSAT scores for entrance and admission, which have been noted to be comparatively easier than the JEE.[130]
Not all children are of a similar aptitude level and may be skilled in different paradigms and fields. This has led to criticism of the way the examinations are conducted and the way a student is forced in the Indian community. The IIT-JEE (Now JEE-Advanced) format was restructured in 2006 following these complaints.[131]After the change to the objective pattern of questioning, even the students who initially considered themselves not fit for subjective pattern of IIT-JEE decided to take the examination. Though the restructuring was meant to reduce the dependence of students on coaching classes, it led to an increase in students registering for coaching classes.[132] Some people (mostly IIT graduates) have criticized the changed pattern of the JEE-Advanced . They reason that while JEE-Advanced is traditionally used to test students' understanding of fundamentals and their ability to apply them to solve tough unseen problems, the current pattern does not stress much on the application part and might lead to a reduced quality of students.[133]
JEE-Advanced is conducted only in English andHindi, making it harder for students with regional languages as their main language. In September 2011, theGujarat High Court has acted on aPublic Interest Litigation by theGujarati Sahitya Parishad, for conducting the exams in Gujarati.[134] A second petition was made in October by Navsari's Sayaji Vaibhav Sarvajanik Pustakalaya Trust.[135] Another petition was made at the Madras High Court for conducting the exam in Tamil. In the petition, it was claimed that not conducting the exam in the regional languages violates article 14 of theConstitution of India.[136] IIT council recommended major changes in entrance examination structure which is effective from 2017 onwards.[137]
In comparison with other universities worldwide, the IITs have been consistently plagued with quality issues in curriculum and academics, which has caused mental stress to students. The response from administration has been noted to be insensitive, after several students have complained from stress, besides unhealthy competition.[138] This has led to an increase in students dropping out of the IITs at a high pace, prompting concerns.[139] Furthermore, across almost all IITs, caste discrimination and institutional bullying of students who come under reserved quota is rampant, which affects academics and eventually leads to student suicides or dropping out.[140]
In 2017, several IIT directors revealed that the outdated curriculum, along with poor teaching infrastructure and shortage of good faculty, had raised the issue of employability of IIT graduates.[141] As a result, in 2022, theIIT Delhi began to revamp the curriculum to keep up the pace with new trends in technology.[142] IIT Kharagpur has also brought major changes to the curriculum in 2024[143]. IIT Hyderabad has also introduced fractal academics for increased academic flexibility for the students since its inception, the curricula are frequent updated. It has led IITs in removal of branch change to reduce student stress, a bachelor's program on AI, introduction of double major and minor, among other academic options.[144]
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