IIT BHU vs IIT Kanpur: Courses, Seats, Cutoffs, Fees, Placements and Research (2026)
IIT Kanpur leads on sponsored research by 321% (₹363.43 crore vs ₹86.32 crore, FY 2024-25). IIT Kanpur earned 3.0 times as much from consultancy (₹113.61 crore vs ₹38.27 crore, FY 2024-25). IIT Kanpur has 56% more faculty (636 vs 409, NIRF 2026).
Last updated: 14 Oct 2026.
Who should pick which (our analysis)
IIT BHU
Our analysis: IIT BHU suits you if you want a large intake and rare branches you won't find at most IITs. Examples are Ceramic Engineering, Pharmaceutical Engineering & Technology, Mining Engineering and Biochemical Engineering. It also offers a 5-year B.Arch. Its biggest branches are Mechanical (190 seats) and Chemical (170).At a glance
Swipe sideways. The first column stays put.
| Point | IIT BHU | IIT Kanpur | Source (year) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Established (year) | 1919 | 1959 | JoSAA 2026 institute profile |
| Location (city, state) | Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh | Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh | JoSAA 2026 institute profile josaa.admissions.nic.in |
| Campus area | Not published | 1,055 acres | JoSAA 2026 institute profile |
| Official website | iitbhu.ac.in | iitk.ac.in | iitbhu.ac.in |
| NIRF Overall rank | 31 | 5 | NIRF 2025 |
| NIRF Engineering rank | 10 | 4 | NIRF 2025 |
| B.Tech tuition per semester | ₹1,00,000 | ₹1,00,000 | 2026-27 |
| First-semester academic fees | Not published | ₹1,58,415 | 2026-27 |
| Fee waiver notes | SC, ST and PwD: semester fee ₹6,050 (no tuition). Family income ₹1–5 lakh: one-third tuition (semester fee ₹39,683); below ₹1 lakh: tuition exempted (₹6,350). | SC, ST, PwD and family income below ₹1 lakh: no tuition. Family income ₹1–5 lakh: one-third tuition (₹33,333). | 2026-27 |
| Hostel / mess fee | Mess advance ₹16,500 every semester, on top of the semester fee | Mess establishment charges ₹13,360 (first semester); seat rent and hall charges are inside the ₹13,855 semester fee | 2026-27 |
| Total JoSAA seats | 1,589 | 1,240 | JoSAA 2026 |
| UG 4-year median salary | ₹18 lakh | ₹21.7 lakh | 2024-25 |
| UG 4-year placed / graduated | 1,079 placed of 1,106 graduates | 855 placed of 1,205 graduates | 2024-25 |
| PG 2-year median salary | ₹9.2 lakh | ₹15.7 lakh | 2024-25 |
| PG 2-year placed | 233 | 674 | 2024-25 |
| UG 4-year went for higher studies | 26 | 257 | 2024-25 |
| Total UG 4-year students | Not published | 4,932 | 2024-25 |
| Faculty count | 409 | 636 | NIRF 2026 |
| Full-time PhD students | 1,355 | 2,172 | 2024-25 |
| Full-time PhDs graduated | Not published | 294 | 2024-25 |
| Sponsored research received | ₹86.32 crore | ₹363.43 crore | FY 2024-25 |
| Consultancy received | ₹38.27 crore | ₹113.61 crore | FY 2024-25 |
How IIT BHU and IIT Kanpur differ
- IIT Kanpur leads on sponsored research by 321% (₹363.43 crore vs ₹86.32 crore, FY 2024-25).
- IIT Kanpur earned 3.0 times as much from consultancy (₹113.61 crore vs ₹38.27 crore, FY 2024-25).
- IIT Kanpur has 56% more faculty (636 vs 409, NIRF 2026).
- IIT Kanpur enrols 60% more PhD scholars (2,172 vs 1,355, 2024-25).
- IIT BHU admits 28% more students through JoSAA (1,589 vs 1,240, JoSAA 2026).
- IIT Kanpur reported a ₹3.70 lakh higher 4-year UG median salary (₹21.7 lakh vs ₹18 lakh).
- Tuition is identical at ₹1,00,000 a semester.
- IIT Kanpur ranks higher in NIRF 2025 Overall (5 vs 31).
- IIT Kanpur ranks higher in NIRF 2025 Engineering (4 vs 10).
- IIT BHU has more 4-year B.Tech CSE seats (155 vs 129).
- Only IIT BHU offers Ceramic Engineering, Industrial Chemistry, Electronics Engineering, Engineering Physics among these two.
- Only IIT Kanpur offers Aerospace Engineering, Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Intelligent Systems among these two.
Worked out from the official numbers above.
Courses and seats
IIT BHU
- B.Tech (4 years)
- B.Arch (5 years)
IIT Kanpur
- B.Tech (4 years)
- B.S. (4 years)
- BT-MT and BS-MS dual degrees
- B.Cyber
Seats per branch
| Branch | IIT BHU | IIT Kanpur |
|---|---|---|
| Ceramic Engineering | 75 | Not offered |
| Chemical Engineering | 170 | 104 |
| Civil Engineering | 160 | 148 |
| Industrial Chemistry | 24 | Not offered |
| Computer Science and Engineering | 155 | 129 |
| Electrical Engineering | 150 | 192 |
| Electronics Engineering | 155 | Not offered |
| Engineering Physics | 40 | Not offered |
| Mathematics and Computing | 65 | Not offered |
| Mechanical Engineering | 190 | 149 |
| Metallurgical Engineering | 110 | Not offered |
| Biochemical Engineering | 25 | Not offered |
| Materials Science and Technology | 28 | 85 |
| Mining Engineering | 120 | Not offered |
| Pharmaceutical Engineering & Technology | 75 | Not offered |
| Biomedical Engineering | 21 | Not offered |
| Architecture (5-year Bachelor of Architecture) | 26 | Not offered |
| Aerospace Engineering | Not offered | 69 |
| Biological Sciences and Bioengineering | Not offered | 53 |
| Intelligent Systems | Not offered | 30 |
| B.S. Chemistry | Not offered | 49 |
| B.S. Economics | Not offered | 52 |
| B.S. Mathematics and Scientific Computing | Not offered | 64 |
| B.S. Physics | Not offered | 45 |
| B.S. Earth Sciences | Not offered | 43 |
| B.S. Statistics and Data Science | Not offered | 28 |
Source: JoSAA 2026 · JoSAA 2026
6 branches appear at both IIT BHU and IIT Kanpur. About JoSAA seat numbers →
JoSAA cutoffs: opening and closing ranks
OPEN closing ranks, 2024–2026. Lower is harder.
| Branch | IIT BHU | IIT Kanpur | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
| Aerospace Engineering | – | – | – | 3638 | 3805 | 4015 |
| Architecture (5-yr) | 22390 | 20792 | 28480 | – | – | – |
| Biochemical Engineering | – | 13255 | 13511 | – | – | – |
| Biochemical Engineering with M.Tech. in Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology (5-yr) | 12761 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Bioengineering | – | 12759 | – | – | – | – |
| Bioengineering with M.Tech in Biomedical Technology (5-yr) | 14001 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Biological Sciences and Bioengineering | – | – | – | 6952 | 7105 | 7837 |
| Biomedical Engineering | – | – | 13196 | – | – | – |
| Ceramic Engineering | 12154 | 13064 | 14562 | – | – | – |
| Ceramic Engineering (5-yr) | 13931 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Chemical Engineering | 7757 | 8381 | 9512 | 4015 | 4280 | 4436 |
| Chemistry | – | – | – | 10498 | 10482 | 11668 |
| Civil Engineering | 9339 | 10278 | 12331 | 5948 | 6161 | 7177 |
| Civil Engineering (5-yr) | 10583 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Computer Science and Engineering | 1071 | 1489 | 1439 | 252 | 271 | 283 |
| Computer Science and Engineering (5-yr) | 1510 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Earth Sciences | – | – | – | 10058 | 10108 | 10774 |
| Economics | – | – | – | 3106 | 3310 | 3650 |
| Electrical Engineering | 3608 | 3537 | 3879 | 1290 | 1146 | 1171 |
| Electrical Engineering with M.Tech. in Power Electronics (5-yr) | 4619 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Electronics Engineering | 2826 | 2635 | 2809 | – | – | – |
| Engineering Physics | – | 8441 | 7798 | – | – | – |
| Engineering Physics (5-yr) | 7764 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Industrial Chemistry | – | 12721 | 12340 | – | – | – |
| Industrial Chemistry (5-yr) | 12317 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Intelligent Systems | – | – | – | – | – | 1134 |
| Materials Science and Engineering | 12524 | 10851 | 9905 | 6008 | 6337 | 6533 |
| Mathematics and Computing | – | 1924 | 1923 | – | – | – |
| Mathematics and Computing (5-yr) | 2154 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Mathematics and Scientific Computing | – | – | – | 990 | 1179 | 1270 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 6596 | 7286 | 8010 | 2776 | 2771 | 3178 |
| Mechanical Engineering (5-yr) | 7497 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Metallurgical Engineering | 10740 | 11398 | 12952 | – | – | – |
| Metallurgical Engineering (5-yr) | 11530 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Mining Engineering | 12876 | 14243 | 15019 | – | – | – |
| Mining Engineering (5-yr) | 14557 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Pharmaceutical Engineering & Technology | 13562 | 14447 | 15894 | – | – | – |
| Pharmaceutical Engineering & Technology (5-yr) | 14463 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Physics | – | – | – | 5508 | 5691 | 5723 |
| Statistics and Data Science | – | – | – | 1030 | 1270 | 1409 |
All categories and seat pools
| Institute | Branch | Category | Seats | Year | Round | Opening | Closing |
|---|
Source: josaa.nic.in, final rounds.
M.Tech (GATE) cutoffs
No verified GATE cutoffs yet. How M.Tech admission works →
CSE OPEN closing ranks: IIT BHU 1,439 (2026), IIT Kanpur 283 (2026). How to read cutoffs →
Fees
Fee waiver notes: IIT BHU: SC, ST and PwD: semester fee ₹6,050 (no tuition). Family income ₹1–5 lakh: one-third tuition (semester fee ₹39,683); below ₹1 lakh: tuition exempted (₹6,350).. IIT Kanpur: SC, ST, PwD and family income below ₹1 lakh: no tuition. Family income ₹1–5 lakh: one-third tuition (₹33,333)..
Hostel / mess fee: IIT BHU: Mess advance ₹16,500 every semester, on top of the semester fee. IIT Kanpur: Mess establishment charges ₹13,360 (first semester); seat rent and hall charges are inside the ₹13,855 semester fee.
Research, labs and projects
Notable labs / facilities
IIT BHU
- PARAM Shivay supercomputer (833 TeraFLOPS peak)
- Central Instrumentation Facility (CIF)
josaa.admissions.nic.in (JoSAA 2026 institute profile)
IIT Kanpur
- Airstrip on campus (used by the Aerospace Engineering department and the Gliding Club)
josaa.admissions.nic.in (JoSAA 2026 institute profile)
For industry consultancy, IIT Kanpur earns the most of the two. Sponsored vs consultancy →
IIT BHU: what these numbers mean
The semester fee is ₹1,06,350, and you add a mess advance of ₹16,500 each semester. SC, ST and PwD students pay ₹6,050 a semester instead. If your family income is ₹1–5 lakh, you pay one-third of the tuition, so the semester fee is ₹39,683. NIRF 2026 data reports 1,079 of 1,106 four-year graduates placed in 2024-25, at a median of ₹18 lakh. That is the highest placement count in this batch. Sponsored research was ₹86.32 crore and consultancy ₹38.27 crore in FY 2024-25. The PARAM Shivay supercomputer (833 TeraFLOPS peak) and a Central Instrumentation Facility are on campus. The campus sits inside BHU, so you also get the life and culture of a large university town.How to choose
- Check your rank against the cutoff table first. CSE OPEN closing ranks: IIT BHU 1,439 (2026), IIT Kanpur 283 (2026).
- 6 branches appear at both IIT BHU and IIT Kanpur. Compare the branch you want, not just the name.
- IIT BHU is in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh; IIT Kanpur is in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Think about distance from home.
FAQ
Which is better, IIT BHU or IIT Kanpur?
Neither is clearly better on paper: IIT BHU ranks 31 and IIT Kanpur ranks 5 overall (NIRF 2025). Compare the branch you can get.
Is the B.Tech fee the same at IIT BHU and IIT Kanpur?
Yes: ₹1,00,000 tuition per semester at both.
Which has better placements, IIT BHU or IIT Kanpur?
By median pay, IIT Kanpur leads (₹21.7 lakh against ₹18 lakh).
How many CSE seats do IIT BHU and IIT Kanpur have?
IIT BHU: 155. IIT Kanpur: 129.
Which does more research, IIT BHU or IIT Kanpur?
IIT Kanpur, by sponsored research money: ₹363.43 crore vs ₹86.32 crore.
Sources
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › InstProfile
- iitbhu.ac.in
- nirfindia.org › OverallRanking
- nirfindia.org › EngineeringRanking
- iitbhu.ac.in › nirf_2026_overall_report.pdf
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › InstProfile
- iitk.ac.in
- iitk.ac.in › Fee-Structure-for-New-UG-for-2026-2027-1st…
- iitk.ac.in › Overall-2026.pdf
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › openingclosingrankarchieve
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › CurrentORCR
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