IIT Madras vs IIT Palakkad: Courses, Seats, Cutoffs, Fees, Placements and Research (2026)
IIT Madras received 31.4 times as much sponsored research funding (₹1,128.82 crore vs ₹35.94 crore, FY 2024-25). IIT Madras leads on industry consultancy by 5597% (₹460.28 crore vs ₹8.08 crore, FY 2024-25). IIT Madras has a 383% larger faculty (720 vs 149, NIRF 2026).
Last updated: 14 Oct 2026.
Who should pick which (our analysis)
IIT Palakkad
Our analysis: IIT Palakkad suits you if you prefer small classes. Its six branches are Civil, CSE, Electrical, Mechanical, Data Science and Engineering, and Materials Engineering. Five of them have 50 seats each. A small intake can mean closer contact with faculty.At a glance
Swipe sideways. The first column stays put.
| Point | IIT Madras | IIT Palakkad | Source (year) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Established (year) | 1959 | 2015 | JoSAA 2026 institute profile |
| Location (city, state) | Chennai, Tamil Nadu | Kanjikode, Palakkad, Kerala | josaa.admissions.nic.in JoSAA 2026 institute profile |
| Campus area | 650 acres | 500 acres | JoSAA 2026 institute profile |
| Official website | iitm.ac.in | iitpkd.ac.in | iitm.ac.in |
| NIRF Overall rank | 1 | Not published | NIRF 2025 |
| NIRF Engineering rank | 1 | 64 | NIRF 2025 |
| B.Tech tuition per semester | ₹1,00,000 | ₹1,00,000 | 2026-27 |
| First-semester academic fees | ₹1,41,402 | Not published | 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). | SC, ST and PwD: tuition waived. | 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 seat rent ₹6,500; advance dining charges ₹20,000 (first semester) | 2026-27 |
| Total JoSAA seats | 1,118 | 280 | JoSAA 2026 |
| UG 4-year median salary | ₹17.78 lakh | ₹12 lakh | 2024-25 |
| UG 4-year placed / graduated | 631 placed of 781 graduates | 104 placed of 142 graduates | 2024-25 |
| UG 5-year (dual) median salary | ₹22 lakh | Not published | 2024-25 |
| PG 2-year median salary | ₹15 lakh | ₹10.8 lakh | 2024-25 |
| PG 2-year placed | 644 | 47 | 2024-25 |
| UG 4-year went for higher studies | 147 | 15 | 2024-25 |
| Total UG 4-year students | 3,733 | Not published | 2024-25 |
| Faculty count | 720 | 149 | NIRF 2026 |
| Full-time PhD students | 2,399 | 234 | 2024-25 |
| Full-time PhDs graduated | 485 | Not published | 2024-25 |
| Sponsored research received | ₹1,128.82 crore | ₹35.94 crore | FY 2024-25 |
| Consultancy received | ₹460.28 crore | ₹8.08 crore | FY 2024-25 |
How IIT Madras and IIT Palakkad differ
- IIT Madras received 31.4 times as much sponsored research funding (₹1,128.82 crore vs ₹35.94 crore, FY 2024-25).
- IIT Madras leads on industry consultancy by 5597% (₹460.28 crore vs ₹8.08 crore, FY 2024-25).
- IIT Madras has a 383% larger faculty (720 vs 149, NIRF 2026).
- IIT Madras runs a 925% bigger PhD programme (2,399 vs 234, 2024-25).
- IIT Madras offers 4.0 times as much JoSAA seats (1,118 vs 280, JoSAA 2026).
- IIT Madras reported a ₹5.78 lakh higher 4-year UG median salary (₹17.78 lakh vs ₹12 lakh).
- Both charge the same B.Tech tuition: ₹1,00,000 per semester.
- IIT Madras ranks higher in NIRF 2025 Engineering (1 vs 64).
- IIT Madras has more 4-year B.Tech CSE seats (87 vs 50).
- Only IIT Madras offers Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Biological Engineering among these two.
- Only IIT Palakkad offers Data Science and 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 Palakkad
- B.Tech (4 years)
Seats per branch
| Branch | IIT Madras | IIT Palakkad |
|---|---|---|
| Aerospace Engineering | 54 | Not offered |
| Chemical Engineering | 104 | Not offered |
| Civil Engineering | 111 | 50 |
| Computer Science and Engineering | 87 | 50 |
| Electrical Engineering | 154 | 50 |
| Engineering Physics | 42 | Not offered |
| Biological Engineering | 30 | Not offered |
| Mechanical Engineering | 144 | 50 |
| 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 |
| Data Science and Engineering | Not offered | 50 |
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 Madras | IIT Palakkad | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Engineering | 3972 | 4116 | 4162 | – | – | – |
| Civil Engineering | 5688 | 6112 | 6225 | 15812 | 16753 | 18196 |
| Computational Engineering and Mechanics | – | 1309 | 1314 | – | – | – |
| Computer Science and Engineering | 159 | 171 | 151 | 6199 | 6454 | 7625 |
| Data Science and Engineering | – | – | – | 8084 | 8640 | 9484 |
| Electrical Engineering | 838 | 849 | 749 | 9625 | 10396 | 10926 |
| Engineering Design (5-yr) | 3656 | 3380 | 3093 | – | – | – |
| Engineering Physics | 1858 | 1441 | 1316 | – | – | – |
| Instrumentation and Biomedical Engineering | – | 4366 | 4011 | – | – | – |
| Materials Engineering | 4748 | 5499 | 5398 | – | – | 18397 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 2310 | 2468 | 2619 | 12540 | 12606 | 14360 |
| 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 Madras 151 (2026), IIT Palakkad 7,625 (2026). Cutoff trends, 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 Palakkad: SC, ST and PwD: tuition waived..
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 Palakkad: Per semester: hostel seat rent ₹6,500; advance dining charges ₹20,000 (first semester).
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 Palakkad
- Central Instrumentation Facility (CIF)
- Central Micro-Nano Fabrication Facility (CMFF)
- Central Facility for Materials and Manufacturing Engineering (CFMM)
- 'Chandra' high-performance computing cluster
josaa.admissions.nic.in (JoSAA 2026 institute profile)
For industry consultancy, IIT Madras earns the most of the two. What sponsored research means →
IIT Palakkad: what these numbers mean
Tuition is ₹1,00,000 per semester and is waived for SC, ST and PwD students. Other first-semester items include hostel seat rent of ₹6,500 and advance dining charges of ₹20,000. NIRF 2026 data shows 104 of 142 four-year graduates placed in 2024-25, at a median of ₹12 lakh. 15 went for higher studies. PG (2-year) graduates had a median of ₹10.8 lakh. Sponsored research was ₹35.94 crore in FY 2024-25, which is solid for a young institute. Research facilities include a Central Instrumentation Facility, a Central Micro-Nano Fabrication Facility, a materials and manufacturing facility, and the 'Chandra' high-performance computing cluster. The campus uses sustainable green buildings. The NIRF list names 149 faculty and 234 full-time PhD scholars. Use the cutoff table to see how closing ranks for each branch moved between 2024, 2025 and 2026.How to choose
- Rank first, name second. CSE OPEN closing ranks: IIT Madras 151 (2026), IIT Palakkad 7,625 (2026).
- They have 5 branch names in common. Shortlist by branch before institute.
- IIT Madras is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu; IIT Palakkad is in Kanjikode, Palakkad, Kerala. Weigh travel and living costs.
FAQ
Is the B.Tech fee the same at IIT Madras and IIT Palakkad?
Tuition matches at ₹1,00,000 a semester.
Which has better placements, IIT Madras or IIT Palakkad?
UG medians: IIT Madras ₹17.78 lakh, IIT Palakkad ₹12 lakh.
How many CSE seats do IIT Madras and IIT Palakkad have?
IIT Madras: 87. IIT Palakkad: 50.
Which does more research, IIT Madras or IIT Palakkad?
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
- iitpkd.ac.in
- iitpkd.ac.in › 4bc0d928-8fa0-42e6-8140-a54bf872535f.pdf
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › openingclosingrankarchieve
- josaa.admissions.nic.in › CurrentORCR
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