IIT Madras vs IIT Mandi: Courses, Seats, Cutoffs, Fees, Placements and Research (2026)
IIT Madras attracts 38.0 times as much research funding (₹1,128.82 crore vs ₹29.71 crore, FY 2024-25). IIT Madras does 126.5 times as much consultancy business (₹460.28 crore vs ₹3.64 crore, FY 2024-25). IIT Madras employs 3.2 times as much faculty (720 vs 226, NIRF 2026).
Last updated: 14 Oct 2026.
Who should pick which (our analysis)
IIT Mandi
Our analysis: IIT Mandi suits you if you want new-age branches and a hill campus. It offers Quantum Science and Engineering, Microelectronics & VLSI, Data Science and AI, Chemical and Agricultural Engineering with Data Analytics, General Engineering, and a B.S. in Chemical Sciences. Most of these have 30 seats each, so cutoffs can move a lot from year to year.At a glance
Swipe sideways. The first column stays put.
| Point | IIT Madras | IIT Mandi | Source (year) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Established (year) | 1959 | 2009 | JoSAA 2026 institute profile |
| Location (city, state) | Chennai, Tamil Nadu | Mandi (Kamand), Himachal Pradesh | josaa.admissions.nic.in JoSAA 2026 institute profile |
| Campus area | 650 acres | Not published | JoSAA 2026 institute profile |
| Official website | iitm.ac.in | iitmandi.ac.in | iitm.ac.in |
| NIRF Overall rank | 1 | 58 | NIRF 2025 |
| NIRF Engineering rank | 1 | 26 | NIRF 2025 |
| B.Tech tuition per semester | ₹1,00,000 | ₹1,00,000 | 2026-27 |
| First-semester academic fees | ₹1,41,402 | ₹1,55,434 | 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 (first-semester total ₹74,735). | Students exempted from tuition (as per the institute rules linked on the fee page) pay ₹1,000 instead of ₹1,01,000 per semester; first-semester total ₹55,434 for them. | 2026-27 |
| Hostel / mess fee | Seat rent ₹7,500 per semester; hostel fee circular at fees.iitm.ac.in; advance mess charges depend on the mess tender | Per semester: hostel charges ₹14,800 (about 10% annual increase; AC extra) + mess advance ₹16,884 | 2026-27 |
| Total JoSAA seats | 1,118 | 640 | JoSAA 2026 |
| UG 4-year median salary | ₹17.78 lakh | ₹17 lakh | 2024-25 |
| UG 4-year placed / graduated | 631 placed of 781 graduates | 211 placed of 272 graduates | 2024-25 |
| UG 5-year (dual) median salary | ₹22 lakh | Not published | 2024-25 |
| PG 2-year median salary | ₹15 lakh | ₹7.05 lakh | 2024-25 |
| PG 2-year placed | 644 | 127 | 2024-25 |
| UG 4-year went for higher studies | 147 | 61 | 2024-25 |
| Total UG 4-year students | 3,733 | Not published | 2024-25 |
| Faculty count | 720 | 226 | NIRF 2026 |
| Full-time PhD students | 2,399 | 915 | 2024-25 |
| Full-time PhDs graduated | 485 | Not published | 2024-25 |
| Sponsored research received | ₹1,128.82 crore | ₹29.71 crore | FY 2024-25 |
| Consultancy received | ₹460.28 crore | ₹3.64 crore | FY 2024-25 |
How IIT Madras and IIT Mandi differ
- IIT Madras attracts 38.0 times as much research funding (₹1,128.82 crore vs ₹29.71 crore, FY 2024-25).
- IIT Madras does 126.5 times as much consultancy business (₹460.28 crore vs ₹3.64 crore, FY 2024-25).
- IIT Madras employs 3.2 times as much faculty (720 vs 226, NIRF 2026).
- IIT Madras has 2.6 times as much full-time PhD students (2,399 vs 915, 2024-25).
- IIT Madras has a 75% bigger JoSAA intake (1,118 vs 640, JoSAA 2026).
- The 4-year UG median salary is almost the same: ₹17.78 lakh at IIT Madras and ₹17 lakh at IIT Mandi (2024-25).
- Same tuition at both: ₹1,00,000 per semester.
- IIT Madras ranks higher in NIRF 2025 Overall (1 vs 58).
- IIT Madras ranks higher in NIRF 2025 Engineering (1 vs 26).
- IIT Mandi has more 4-year B.Tech CSE seats (90 vs 87).
- Only IIT Madras offers Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Biological Engineering, Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics among these two.
- Only IIT Mandi offers General Engineering, Microelectronics & VLSI, Mathematics and Computing, Bio Engineering among these two.
Worked out from the official numbers above.
Courses and seats
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
IIT Mandi
- B.Tech (4 years)
- B.S. (4 years)
Seats per branch
| Branch | IIT Madras | IIT Mandi |
|---|---|---|
| Aerospace Engineering | 54 | Not offered |
| Chemical Engineering | 104 | Not offered |
| Civil Engineering | 111 | 50 |
| Computer Science and Engineering | 87 | 90 |
| Electrical Engineering | 154 | 70 |
| Engineering Physics | 42 | 30 |
| Biological Engineering | 30 | Not offered |
| Mechanical Engineering | 144 | 60 |
| Metallurgical and Materials Engineering | 54 | 30 |
| Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics | 50 | Not offered |
| Computational Engineering and Mechanics | 40 | Not offered |
| Instrumentation and Biomedical Engineering | 40 | Not offered |
| Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering | 73 | Not offered |
| B.S. Physics | 12 | Not offered |
| B.S. Mathematics | 20 | Not offered |
| B.S. Biological Science | 30 | Not offered |
| Aerospace Engineering, 5-year dual degree | 9 | Not offered |
| Engineering Design, 5-year dual degree | 64 | Not offered |
| General Engineering | Not offered | 30 |
| Microelectronics & VLSI | Not offered | 30 |
| Mathematics and Computing | Not offered | 40 |
| Bio Engineering | Not offered | 30 |
| Quantum Science and Engineering | Not offered | 30 |
| Chemical Engineering with Data Analytics | Not offered | 30 |
| Agricultural Engineering with Data Analytics | Not offered | 30 |
| Data Science and Artificial Intelligence | Not offered | 60 |
| B.S. Chemical Sciences | Not offered | 30 |
Source: JoSAA 2026 · JoSAA 2026
IIT Madras and IIT Mandi share 6 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 Madras | IIT Mandi | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
| Aerospace Engineering | 2815 | 3211 | 3278 | – | – | – |
| Aerospace Engineering (5-yr) | 2984 | 2808 | 3389 | – | – | – |
| Agricultural Engineering with Data Analytics | – | – | – | – | – | 16689 |
| Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics | 419 | 306 | 226 | – | – | – |
| B.Tech in General Engineering | – | – | – | 10842 | 11034 | 9733 |
| B.Tech in Mathematics and Computing | – | – | – | 4089 | 4285 | 5251 |
| B.Tech in Microelectronics & VLSI | – | – | – | 6643 | 6166 | 6316 |
| Bio Engineering | – | – | – | 14239 | 14879 | 16526 |
| Biological Engineering | 5755 | 5261 | 6440 | – | – | – |
| Biological Science | 10682 | 10290 | 12204 | – | – | – |
| BS in Chemical Sciences | – | – | – | 16430 | 17491 | 18835 |
| BS in Mathematics | – | – | 1804 | – | – | – |
| Chemical Engineering | 3972 | 4116 | 4162 | – | – | – |
| Chemical Engineering with Data Analytics | – | – | – | – | – | 12307 |
| Civil Engineering | 5688 | 6112 | 6225 | 12562 | 14274 | 15702 |
| Computational Engineering and Mechanics | – | 1309 | 1314 | – | – | – |
| Computer Science and Engineering | 159 | 171 | 151 | 3118 | 3123 | 3762 |
| Data Science and Artificial Intelligence | – | – | – | – | 3928 | 4916 |
| Data Science and Engineering | – | – | – | 3918 | – | – |
| Electrical Engineering | 838 | 849 | 749 | 6909 | 7590 | 7947 |
| Engineering Design (5-yr) | 3656 | 3380 | 3093 | – | – | – |
| Engineering Physics | 1858 | 1441 | 1316 | 10475 | 12110 | 11744 |
| Instrumentation and Biomedical Engineering | – | 4366 | 4011 | – | – | – |
| B.Tech in Materials Science and Engineering | 4748 | 5499 | 5398 | 14440 | 14368 | 13925 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 2310 | 2468 | 2619 | 9734 | 10267 | 11085 |
| Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering | 7404 | 7433 | 8354 | – | – | – |
| Physics | – | 3804 | 3918 | – | – | – |
| Physics (5-yr) | 2742 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Quantum Science and Engineering | – | – | – | – | – | 7351 |
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 Madras 151 (2026), IIT Mandi 3,762 (2026). Opening and closing ranks explained →
Fees
Fee waiver notes: 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).. IIT Mandi: Students exempted from tuition (as per the institute rules linked on the fee page) pay ₹1,000 instead of ₹1,01,000 per semester; first-semester total ₹55,434 for them..
Hostel / mess fee: IIT Madras: Seat rent ₹7,500 per semester; hostel fee circular at fees.iitm.ac.in; advance mess charges depend on the mess tender. IIT Mandi: Per semester: hostel charges ₹14,800 (about 10% annual increase; AC extra) + mess advance ₹16,884.
The first-semester bill is higher at IIT Mandi than at IIT Madras by ₹14,032. Who pays less tuition →
Research, labs and projects
Notable labs / facilities
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)
IIT Mandi
- Advanced Materials Research Centre (AMRC)
- PARAM Himalaya supercomputing facility
- NVIDIA DGX H200 GPU facility (8× H200 GPUs)
- Quantum technologies centre (CQST)
josaa.admissions.nic.in (JoSAA 2026 institute profile)
For industry consultancy, IIT Madras earns the most of the two. Research money, explained →
IIT Mandi: what these numbers mean
Each semester costs ₹1,01,000. Students exempt from tuition pay ₹1,000 instead. The first-semester total is ₹1,55,434 including hostel (₹14,800) and mess advance (₹16,884). Hostel charges rise about 10% a year, and air conditioning is extra. NIRF 2026 data shows 211 of 272 four-year graduates placed in 2024-25, at a median of ₹17 lakh. 61 went for higher studies. Sponsored research was ₹29.71 crore in FY 2024-25. Computing is a highlight: the PARAM Himalaya supercomputer, an HPC cluster and an NVIDIA DGX H200 system with eight H200 GPUs. There is also the Advanced Materials Research Centre and a quantum technologies centre (CQST). The NIRF list names 226 faculty and 915 full-time PhD scholars.How to choose
- Start with the cutoffs: can your rank reach the branch you want? CSE OPEN closing ranks: IIT Madras 151 (2026), IIT Mandi 3,762 (2026).
- IIT Madras and IIT Mandi share 6 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 Mandi than at IIT Madras by ₹14,032. Who pays less tuition →
- IIT Madras is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu; IIT Mandi is in Mandi (Kamand), Himachal Pradesh. City and cost of living count too.
FAQ
Which is better, IIT Madras or IIT Mandi?
IIT Madras is ahead in NIRF 2025 Overall (1 vs 58). At this level the gap is small, so pick on branch and fit.
Is the B.Tech fee the same at IIT Madras and IIT Mandi?
Tuition matches at ₹1,00,000 a semester.
Which has better placements, IIT Madras or IIT Mandi?
UG medians: IIT Madras ₹17.78 lakh, IIT Mandi ₹17 lakh.
How many CSE seats do IIT Madras and IIT Mandi have?
IIT Madras: 87. IIT Mandi: 90.
Which does more research, IIT Madras or IIT Mandi?
IIT Madras brings in more sponsored research (₹1,128.82 crore).
Sources
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › InstProfile
- iitm.ac.in
- nirfindia.org › OverallRanking
- nirfindia.org › EngineeringRanking
- iitm.ac.in › NIRF_Overall_2026.pdf
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › InstProfile
- iitmandi.ac.in
- academics.iitmandi.ac.in › fees
- iitmandi.ac.in › Indian_Institute_of_Technology_Mandi20…
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › openingclosingrankarchieve
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › CurrentORCR
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