IIT Dharwad vs IIT Madras: Courses, Seats, Cutoffs, Fees, Placements and Research (2026)
IIT Madras attracts 95.7 times as much research funding (₹1,128.82 crore vs ₹11.80 crore, FY 2024-25). IIT Madras does 198.4 times as much consultancy business (₹460.28 crore vs ₹2.32 crore, FY 2024-25). IIT Madras employs 6.3 times as much faculty (720 vs 114, NIRF 2026).
Last updated: 14 Oct 2026.
Who should pick which (our analysis)
IIT Dharwad
Our analysis: IIT Dharwad suits you if you want a young IIT with B.S. options. Alongside eight B.Tech branches, it offers B.S. Majors in Mathematics and Physics (15 seats each). Branch change was discontinued from 2024-25, so pick your branch carefully at JoSAA.At a glance
Swipe sideways. The first column stays put.
| Point | IIT Dharwad | IIT Madras | Source (year) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Established (year) | 2016 | 1959 | JoSAA 2026 institute profile |
| Location (city, state) | Chikkamalligawad, Dharwad, Karnataka | Chennai, Tamil Nadu | JoSAA 2026 institute profile josaa.admissions.nic.in |
| Campus area | 470 acres | 650 acres | JoSAA 2026 institute profile |
| Official website | iitdh.ac.in | iitm.ac.in | iitdh.ac.in |
| NIRF Overall rank | Not published | 1 | NIRF 2025 |
| NIRF Engineering rank | 77 | 1 | NIRF 2025 |
| B.Tech tuition per semester | ₹1,00,000 | ₹1,00,000 | 2026-27 |
| First-semester academic fees | ₹1,58,500 | ₹1,41,402 | 2026-27 |
| Fee waiver notes | SC, ST and PwD: no tuition. Family income below ₹1 lakh: full tuition remission; ₹1–5 lakh: two-thirds remission. | SC, ST and PwD: no tuition. Family income below ₹1 lakh: full tuition remission; ₹1–5 lakh: two-thirds remission (first-semester total ₹74,735). | 2026-27 |
| Hostel / mess fee | Per semester: room rent ₹1,000 + hostel establishment ₹2,500 + electricity and water ₹2,500 + mess advance ₹20,000 | Seat rent ₹7,500 per semester; hostel fee circular at fees.iitm.ac.in; advance mess charges depend on the mess tender | 2026-27 |
| Total JoSAA seats | 355 | 1,118 | JoSAA 2026 |
| UG 4-year median salary | ₹13.25 lakh | ₹17.78 lakh | 2024-25 |
| UG 4-year placed / graduated | 110 placed of 159 graduates | 631 placed of 781 graduates | 2024-25 |
| UG 5-year (dual) median salary | Not published | ₹22 lakh | 2024-25 |
| PG 2-year median salary | ₹8 lakh | ₹15 lakh | 2024-25 |
| PG 2-year placed | 25 | 644 | 2024-25 |
| UG 4-year went for higher studies | 31 | 147 | 2024-25 |
| Total UG 4-year students | Not published | 3,733 | 2024-25 |
| Faculty count | 114 | 720 | NIRF 2026 |
| Full-time PhD students | 202 | 2,399 | 2024-25 |
| Full-time PhDs graduated | Not published | 485 | 2024-25 |
| Sponsored research received | ₹11.80 crore | ₹1,128.82 crore | FY 2024-25 |
| Consultancy received | ₹2.32 crore | ₹460.28 crore | FY 2024-25 |
How IIT Dharwad and IIT Madras differ
- IIT Madras attracts 95.7 times as much research funding (₹1,128.82 crore vs ₹11.80 crore, FY 2024-25).
- IIT Madras does 198.4 times as much consultancy business (₹460.28 crore vs ₹2.32 crore, FY 2024-25).
- IIT Madras employs 6.3 times as much faculty (720 vs 114, NIRF 2026).
- IIT Madras has 11.9 times as much full-time PhD students (2,399 vs 202, 2024-25).
- IIT Madras has a 215% bigger JoSAA intake (1,118 vs 355, JoSAA 2026).
- IIT Madras reported a ₹4.53 lakh higher 4-year UG median salary (₹17.78 lakh vs ₹13.25 lakh).
- Same tuition at both: ₹1,00,000 per semester.
- IIT Madras ranks higher in NIRF 2025 Engineering (1 vs 77).
- IIT Madras has more 4-year B.Tech CSE seats (87 vs 65).
- Only IIT Dharwad offers Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Mathematics and Computing, Civil and Infrastructure Engineering among these two.
- Only IIT Madras offers Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering among these two.
Worked out from the official numbers above.
Courses and seats
IIT Dharwad
- B.Tech (4 years)
- B.S. (4 years)
IIT Madras
- B.Tech, B.S. and 5-year dual degree
- B.S. Medical Sciences and Engineering, B.S. Chemistry
- M.Sc, M.Tech, MBA, EMBA, M.A.
- MS (Research) and PhD
- Online B.S. in Data Science and Applications, B.S. in Electronic Systems
Seats per branch
| Branch | IIT Dharwad | IIT Madras |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical and Biochemical Engineering | 30 | Not offered |
| Computer Science and Engineering | 65 | 87 |
| Electronics and Communication Engineering | 45 | Not offered |
| Engineering Physics | 30 | 42 |
| Mathematics and Computing | 30 | Not offered |
| Mechanical Engineering | 65 | 144 |
| Civil and Infrastructure Engineering | 30 | Not offered |
| Electrical and Electronics Engineering | 30 | Not offered |
| B.S. Mathematics | 15 | 20 |
| B.S. Physics | 15 | 12 |
| Aerospace Engineering | Not offered | 54 |
| Chemical Engineering | Not offered | 104 |
| Civil Engineering | Not offered | 111 |
| Electrical Engineering | Not offered | 154 |
| Biological Engineering | Not offered | 30 |
| Metallurgical and Materials Engineering | Not offered | 54 |
| Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics | Not offered | 50 |
| Computational Engineering and Mechanics | Not offered | 40 |
| Instrumentation and Biomedical Engineering | Not offered | 40 |
| Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering | Not offered | 73 |
| B.S. Biological Science | Not offered | 30 |
| Aerospace Engineering, 5-year dual degree | Not offered | 9 |
| Engineering Design, 5-year dual degree | Not offered | 64 |
Source: JoSAA 2026 · JoSAA 2026
IIT Dharwad and IIT Madras share 5 branch names; the rest are offered by only one of them. How seats are counted →
JoSAA cutoffs: opening and closing ranks
OPEN closing ranks, 2024–2026. Lower is harder.
| Branch | IIT Dharwad | IIT Madras | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
| Aerospace Engineering | – | – | – | 2815 | 3211 | 3278 |
| Aerospace Engineering (5-yr) | – | – | – | 2984 | 2808 | 3389 |
| Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics | – | – | – | 419 | 306 | 226 |
| Biological Engineering | – | – | – | 5755 | 5261 | 6440 |
| Biological Science | – | – | – | 10682 | 10290 | 12204 |
| BS in Mathematics | – | – | – | – | – | 1804 |
| Chemical and Biochemical Engineering | 15739 | 16680 | 17789 | – | – | – |
| Chemical Engineering | – | – | – | 3972 | 4116 | 4162 |
| Civil and Infrastructure Engineering | 15945 | 17472 | 17968 | – | – | – |
| Civil Engineering | – | – | – | 5688 | 6112 | 6225 |
| Computational Engineering and Mechanics | – | – | – | – | 1309 | 1314 |
| Computer Science and Engineering | 6375 | 7208 | 8332 | 159 | 171 | 151 |
| Electrical and Electronics Engineering | 9778 | 11051 | 11099 | – | – | – |
| Electrical Engineering | – | – | – | 838 | 849 | 749 |
| Electronics and Communication Engineering | 8772 | 9476 | 9848 | – | – | – |
| Engineering Design (5-yr) | – | – | – | 3656 | 3380 | 3093 |
| Engineering Physics | 12851 | 15353 | 14696 | 1858 | 1441 | 1316 |
| Instrumentation and Biomedical Engineering | – | – | – | – | 4366 | 4011 |
| Interdisciplinary Sciences (5-yr) | 16968 | 18979 | – | – | – | – |
| Major in Mathematics | – | – | 17372 | – | – | – |
| Major in Physics | – | – | 18223 | – | – | – |
| Metallurgical and Materials Engineering | – | – | – | 4748 | 5499 | 5398 |
| Mathematics and Computing | 7381 | 8222 | 9148 | – | – | – |
| Mechanical Engineering | 13435 | 14852 | 15332 | 2310 | 2468 | 2619 |
| Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering | – | – | – | 7404 | 7433 | 8354 |
| Physics | – | – | – | – | 3804 | 3918 |
| Physics (5-yr) | – | – | – | 2742 | – | – |
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 Dharwad 8,332 (2026), IIT Madras 151 (2026). Opening and closing ranks explained →
Fees
Fee waiver notes: IIT Dharwad: SC, ST and PwD: no tuition. Family income below ₹1 lakh: full tuition remission; ₹1–5 lakh: two-thirds remission.. IIT Madras: SC, ST and PwD: no tuition. Family income below ₹1 lakh: full tuition remission; ₹1–5 lakh: two-thirds remission (first-semester total ₹74,735)..
Hostel / mess fee: IIT Dharwad: Per semester: room rent ₹1,000 + hostel establishment ₹2,500 + electricity and water ₹2,500 + mess advance ₹20,000. IIT Madras: Seat rent ₹7,500 per semester; hostel fee circular at fees.iitm.ac.in; advance mess charges depend on the mess tender.
The first-semester bill is higher at IIT Dharwad than at IIT Madras by ₹17,098. Who pays less tuition →
Research, labs and projects
Notable labs / facilities
IIT Dharwad
- Sophisticated Central Instrumentation Facility (SCIF): AFM, FESEM, NMR, HPC
iitdh.ac.in (2026)
IIT Madras
- Sophisticated Analytical Instruments Facility (SAIF)
- Material Science Research Centre (MSRC)
- Central Electronics Centre (CEC)
- AQUA high-performance computing cluster (11,680 cores, 30 GPUs)
josaa.admissions.nic.in (JoSAA 2026 institute profile)
For industry consultancy, IIT Madras earns the most of the two. Research money, explained →
IIT Dharwad: what these numbers mean
The first-semester total is ₹1,58,500 for GEN, EWS and OBC-NCL students and ₹58,500 for SC, ST and PwD students. Tuition is ₹1,00,000 a semester. Families earning under ₹1 lakh get full remission, and those earning ₹1–5 lakh get two-thirds off. A merit scholarship also gives full tuition waiver to five students per batch with a JEE (Advanced) rank below 4000. Hostel items include room rent of ₹1,000 and a mess advance of ₹20,000 per semester. NIRF 2026 data shows 110 of 159 four-year graduates placed in 2024-25, at a median of ₹13.25 lakh. 31 went for higher studies. Sponsored research was ₹11.80 crore in FY 2024-25. The Sophisticated Central Instrumentation Facility offers AFM, FESEM, NMR and HPC access. The NIRF list names 114 faculty.How to choose
- Start with the cutoffs: can your rank reach the branch you want? CSE OPEN closing ranks: IIT Dharwad 8,332 (2026), IIT Madras 151 (2026).
- IIT Dharwad and IIT Madras share 5 branch names; the rest are offered by only one of them. Look for your branch in both lists.
- The first-semester bill is higher at IIT Dharwad than at IIT Madras by ₹17,098. Who pays less tuition →
- IIT Dharwad is in Chikkamalligawad, Dharwad, Karnataka; IIT Madras is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. City and cost of living count too.
FAQ
Is the B.Tech fee the same at IIT Dharwad and IIT Madras?
Yes: ₹1,00,000 tuition per semester at both.
Which has better placements, IIT Dharwad or IIT Madras?
By median pay, IIT Madras leads (₹17.78 lakh against ₹13.25 lakh).
How many CSE seats do IIT Dharwad and IIT Madras have?
IIT Dharwad: 65. IIT Madras: 87.
Which does more research, IIT Dharwad or IIT Madras?
IIT Madras, by sponsored research money: ₹1,128.82 crore vs ₹11.80 crore.
Sources
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › InstProfile
- iitdh.ac.in
- nirfindia.org › EngineeringRanking
- iitdh.ac.in › B.Tech-BS fee pdf.pdf
- iitdh.ac.in › Indian Institute Of Technology Dharwad-20…
- iitdh.ac.in › sophisticated-central-instrumentation-fac…
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › InstProfile
- iitm.ac.in
- nirfindia.org › OverallRanking
- iitm.ac.in › NIRF_Overall_2026.pdf
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › openingclosingrankarchieve
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › CurrentORCR
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