IIT Guwahati vs IIT Madras: Courses, Seats, Cutoffs, Fees, Placements and Research (2026)
IIT Madras received 6.2 times as much sponsored research funding (₹1,128.82 crore vs ₹182.62 crore, FY 2024-25). IIT Madras leads on industry consultancy by 696% (₹460.28 crore vs ₹57.83 crore, FY 2024-25). IIT Madras has a 45% larger faculty (720 vs 495, NIRF 2026).
Last updated: 14 Oct 2026.
Who should pick which (our analysis)
IIT Guwahati
Our analysis: IIT Guwahati suits you if you want an established IIT with strong research funding and are happy to study in the North-East. All its JoSAA seats are 4-year B.Tech, including Data Science and AI, Energy Engineering, and Biosciences and Bioengineering.At a glance
Swipe sideways. The first column stays put.
| Point | IIT Guwahati | IIT Madras | Source (year) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Established (year) | 1994 | 1959 | JoSAA 2026 institute profile |
| Location (city, state) | Guwahati, Assam | Chennai, Tamil Nadu | JoSAA 2026 institute profile josaa.admissions.nic.in |
| Campus area | 700 acres | 650 acres | JoSAA 2026 institute profile |
| Official website | iitg.ac.in | iitm.ac.in | iitg.ac.in |
| NIRF Overall rank | 11 | 1 | NIRF 2025 |
| NIRF Engineering rank | 8 | 1 | NIRF 2025 |
| B.Tech tuition per semester | ₹1,00,000 | ₹1,00,000 | 2026-27 |
| First-semester academic fees | ₹1,63,800 | ₹1,41,402 | 2026-27 |
| Fee waiver notes | SC, ST and PwD: no tuition. Parental income below ₹1 lakh: tuition fully waived; ₹1–5 lakh: pay one-third (total at admission ₹97,133). | 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: hostel rent ₹2,000 + maintenance ₹3,500 + electricity and water ₹3,500 + hostel fund ₹2,200; adjustable mess advance ₹22,000 | 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 | 962 | 1,118 | JoSAA 2026 |
| UG 4-year median salary | ₹17 lakh | ₹17.78 lakh | 2024-25 |
| UG 4-year placed / graduated | 663 placed of 902 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 | ₹12 lakh | ₹15 lakh | 2024-25 |
| PG 2-year placed | 415 | 644 | 2024-25 |
| UG 4-year went for higher studies | 209 | 147 | 2024-25 |
| Total UG 4-year students | Not published | 3,733 | 2024-25 |
| Faculty count | 495 | 720 | NIRF 2026 |
| Full-time PhD students | 1,724 | 2,399 | 2024-25 |
| Full-time PhDs graduated | Not published | 485 | 2024-25 |
| Sponsored research received | ₹182.62 crore | ₹1,128.82 crore | FY 2024-25 |
| Consultancy received | ₹57.83 crore | ₹460.28 crore | FY 2024-25 |
How IIT Guwahati and IIT Madras differ
- IIT Madras received 6.2 times as much sponsored research funding (₹1,128.82 crore vs ₹182.62 crore, FY 2024-25).
- IIT Madras leads on industry consultancy by 696% (₹460.28 crore vs ₹57.83 crore, FY 2024-25).
- IIT Madras has a 45% larger faculty (720 vs 495, NIRF 2026).
- IIT Madras runs a 39% bigger PhD programme (2,399 vs 1,724, 2024-25).
- IIT Madras offers 16% more JoSAA seats (1,118 vs 962, JoSAA 2026).
- The 4-year UG median salary is almost the same: ₹17 lakh at IIT Guwahati and ₹17.78 lakh at IIT Madras (2024-25).
- Both charge the same B.Tech tuition: ₹1,00,000 per semester.
- IIT Madras ranks higher in NIRF 2025 Overall (1 vs 11).
- IIT Madras ranks higher in NIRF 2025 Engineering (1 vs 8).
- IIT Guwahati has more 4-year B.Tech CSE seats (114 vs 87).
- Only IIT Guwahati offers Chemical Science and Technology, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computing among these two.
- Only IIT Madras offers Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Biological Engineering, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering among these two.
Worked out from the official numbers above.
Courses and seats
IIT Guwahati
- B.Tech (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 Guwahati | IIT Madras |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical Engineering | 92 | 104 |
| Chemical Science and Technology | 60 | Not offered |
| Civil Engineering | 117 | 111 |
| Computer Science and Engineering | 114 | 87 |
| Electronics and Communication Engineering | 104 | Not offered |
| Electronics and Electrical Engineering | 62 | Not offered |
| Engineering Physics | 68 | 42 |
| Mathematics and Computing | 72 | Not offered |
| Mechanical Engineering | 119 | 144 |
| Data Science and Artificial Intelligence | 60 | Not offered |
| Biosciences and Bioengineering | 74 | Not offered |
| Energy Engineering | 20 | Not offered |
| Aerospace Engineering | Not offered | 54 |
| 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. Physics | Not offered | 12 |
| B.S. Mathematics | Not offered | 20 |
| 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
They have 5 branch names in common. Seat matrix, explained →
JoSAA cutoffs: opening and closing ranks
OPEN closing ranks, 2024–2026. Lower is harder.
| Branch | IIT Guwahati | 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 |
| Biosciences and Bioengineering | 9178 | 10727 | 12170 | – | – | – |
| BS in Mathematics | – | – | – | – | – | 1804 |
| Chemical Engineering | 5363 | 6053 | 6915 | 3972 | 4116 | 4162 |
| Chemical Science and Technology | 6834 | 7958 | 9262 | – | – | – |
| Civil Engineering | 7670 | 9021 | 9883 | 5688 | 6112 | 6225 |
| Computational Engineering and Mechanics | – | – | – | – | 1309 | 1314 |
| Computer Science and Engineering | 623 | 792 | 822 | 159 | 171 | 151 |
| Data Science and Artificial Intelligence | 995 | 1078 | 1286 | – | – | – |
| Electrical Engineering | – | – | – | 838 | 849 | 749 |
| Electronics and Communication Engineering | 1658 | 1829 | 1988 | – | – | – |
| Electronics and Electrical Engineering | 2217 | 2195 | 2247 | – | – | – |
| Energy Engineering | 5920 | 6610 | 6728 | – | – | – |
| Engineering Design (5-yr) | – | – | – | 3656 | 3380 | 3093 |
| Engineering Physics | 5686 | 7117 | 6121 | 1858 | 1441 | 1316 |
| Instrumentation and Biomedical Engineering | – | – | – | – | 4366 | 4011 |
| Metallurgical and Materials Engineering | – | – | – | 4748 | 5499 | 5398 |
| Mathematics and Computing | 1021 | 1276 | 1366 | – | – | – |
| Mechanical Engineering | 4523 | 4892 | 5642 | 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 Guwahati 822 (2026), IIT Madras 151 (2026). Cutoff trends, explained →
Fees
Fee waiver notes: IIT Guwahati: SC, ST and PwD: no tuition. Parental income below ₹1 lakh: tuition fully waived; ₹1–5 lakh: pay one-third (total at admission ₹97,133).. 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 Guwahati: Per semester: hostel rent ₹2,000 + maintenance ₹3,500 + electricity and water ₹3,500 + hostel fund ₹2,200; adjustable mess advance ₹22,000. 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 Guwahati than at IIT Madras by ₹22,398. Fees and waivers explained →
Research, labs and projects
Notable labs / facilities
IIT Guwahati
- Central Instruments Facility (CIF)
- IITG Research Park
- Technology Incubation Centre (TIC)
josaa.admissions.nic.in (JoSAA 2026 institute profile)
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. What sponsored research means →
IIT Guwahati: what these numbers mean
The first-semester fee is ₹1,63,800, plus medical charges at actual cost. Tuition (₹1,00,000) is waived for SC, ST and PwD students. It is also waived if your parents earn under ₹1 lakh a year. Between ₹1 lakh and ₹5 lakh, you pay one-third, and the admission total drops to ₹97,133. NIRF 2026 data shows 663 of 902 four-year graduates placed in 2024-25, at a median of ₹17 lakh. 209 more chose higher studies. That is one of the largest higher-studies groups in this batch, so many students here move on to research. Sponsored research brought in ₹182.62 crore in FY 2024-25, and consultancy ₹57.83 crore. The Central Instruments Facility, a Research Park and a Technology Incubation Centre support labs and start-ups. The NIRF list names 495 faculty and 1,724 full-time PhD scholars, so research projects are easy to find.How to choose
- Rank first, name second. CSE OPEN closing ranks: IIT Guwahati 822 (2026), IIT Madras 151 (2026).
- They have 5 branch names in common. Shortlist by branch before institute.
- The first-semester bill is higher at IIT Guwahati than at IIT Madras by ₹22,398. Fees and waivers explained →
- IIT Guwahati is in Guwahati, Assam; IIT Madras is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Weigh travel and living costs.
FAQ
Which is better, IIT Guwahati or IIT Madras?
On NIRF 2025 Overall, IIT Guwahati is #11 and IIT Madras is #1. Your branch matters more than this gap.
Is the B.Tech fee the same at IIT Guwahati and IIT Madras?
Both charge ₹1,00,000 per semester.
Which has better placements, IIT Guwahati or IIT Madras?
IIT Madras has the higher UG median: ₹17.78 lakh vs ₹17 lakh (NIRF).
How many CSE seats do IIT Guwahati and IIT Madras have?
IIT Guwahati: 114. IIT Madras: 87.
Which does more research, IIT Guwahati or IIT Madras?
Sponsored research: IIT Guwahati ₹182.62 crore, IIT Madras ₹1,128.82 crore.
Sources
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › InstProfile
- iitg.ac.in
- nirfindia.org › OverallRanking
- nirfindia.org › EngineeringRanking
- iitg.ac.in › NIRF_Engineering_2026.pdf
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › InstProfile
- iitm.ac.in
- iitm.ac.in › NIRF_Overall_2026.pdf
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › openingclosingrankarchieve
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › CurrentORCR
Spotted a wrong number? Report it →