- IIT Kharagpur is ranked 5th in Engineering and 6th Overall in NIRF 2025
- JoSAA lists undergraduate tuition at Rs 1,00,000 per year for general-category students with family income above Rs 5 lakh, and Rs 6.0 lakh per annum for international students from outside SAARC
- The NIRF 2025 data submission records a median salary of Rs 19,76,000 for the 2023-24 four-year UG graduating batch and Rs 20,43,000 for the five-year UG batch
- Admission to B.Tech is through JEE Advanced 2026, scheduled for 17 May 2026.
What Is IIT Kharagpur and Why Does It Matter?
The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is a public technical institute established in 1951 in Kharagpur, West Bengal. It is the first of the IITs, founded to train scientists and engineers after Independence, and today it is an institute of national importance with a strong research focus across engineering and sciences.
IIT Kharagpur was set up by the Government of India in 1951 and remains the oldest institute in the IIT system, now marking its platinum jubilee. It was created to build the engineering and scientific workforce independent India needed, and its academic scope has widened far beyond core engineering since.
The institute sits on a large residential campus of roughly 8.5 square kilometres. Students, research scholars, faculty and staff live on campus in halls of residence, which makes IIT Kharagpur one of the largest fully residential technical campuses in India.
According to the institute's NIRF 2025 data submission, IIT Kharagpur had 3,303 students in four-year UG programmes, 3,540 in five-year UG programmes, 2,491 in two-year PG programmes and 3,409 full-time PhD scholars, giving a total of well over 12,000 students.
Which Courses Does IIT Kharagpur Offer?
IIT Kharagpur offers B.Tech, B.Arch, dual-degree and five-year integrated M.Sc programmes, plus M.Tech, M.Arch, MBA, MCP, LLB in intellectual property law and PhD research degrees. Teaching is organised across six faculties covering engineering and architecture, sciences, biosciences, interdisciplinary studies, management and law.
The institute's academic units page lists six faculties: Engineering and Architecture, Sciences, Biosciences and Biotechnology, Interdisciplinary Studies, the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law and the Vinod Gupta School of Management. Together these house roughly sixty departments, schools and centres.
Engineering departments include Aerospace, Agricultural and Food, Chemical, Civil, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical, Electronics and Electrical Communication, Industrial and Systems, Mechanical, Metallurgical and Materials, Mining, Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture, Cryogenic Engineering and Rubber Technology. Science departments cover Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Geology and Geophysics.
- B.Tech (Hons.) - four years, admission through JEE Advanced
- B.Arch (Hons.) - five years, admission through JEE Advanced
- Dual degree and five-year integrated M.Sc - admission through JEE Advanced
- M.Tech and M.Arch - two years, admission through GATE
- MBA at the Vinod Gupta School of Management - two years, admission through CAT
- PhD across all six faculties
How Do You Get Admission to IIT Kharagpur?
Undergraduate admission runs through JEE Advanced, which in 2026 is held on 17 May and organised by IIT Roorkee. Candidates must clear JEE Main first, then meet the Class XII criterion of 75 per cent aggregate marks, or 65 per cent for SC, ST and PwD candidates, or place in the category-wise top 20 percentile.
JEE Advanced sets two alternative Class XII performance criteria. A candidate must either pass the Class XII board examination with at least five subjects and 75 per cent aggregate marks, with 65 per cent for SC, ST and PwD candidates, or be within the category-wise top 20 percentile of successful candidates in that board.
Seats are reserved by category. For JEE Advanced shortlisting, 10 per cent of places go to GEN-EWS candidates, 27 per cent to OBC-NCL, 15 per cent to SC and 7.5 per cent to ST, with the remaining 40.5 per cent open to all. The EWS income ceiling is a family income below Rs 8 lakh a year.
Seat allocation itself is handled by the Joint Seat Allocation Authority, which runs common counselling for the IITs, NITs, IIITs and other centrally funded institutes. Postgraduate entry uses GATE for M.Tech and M.Arch, and CAT for the MBA at the Vinod Gupta School of Management.
Best colleges in India: rankings and admission routesRead →What Is the Fee Structure at IIT Kharagpur in 2026?
JoSAA lists IIT Kharagpur undergraduate tuition at Rs 1,00,000 a year for general, OBC-NCL and EWS students whose family income exceeds Rs 5 lakh, Rs 33,333 for incomes between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, and nil below that or for SC, ST and PwD candidates.
| Category 2026 | Annual UG Tuition (JoSAA 2026-27) |
|---|---|
| SC / ST / PwD | Nil |
| GE / OBC-NCL / EWS, family income below Rs 1 lakh | Nil |
| GE / OBC-NCL / EWS, family income Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh | Rs 33,333 |
| GE / OBC-NCL / EWS, family income above Rs 5 lakh | Rs 1,00,000 |
| International students, SAARC countries | Rs 2.0 lakh per annum plus other charges |
| International students, other than SAARC | Rs 6.0 lakh per annum plus other charges |
Tuition is only part of the bill. The JoSAA institute profile also lists per-semester charges of Rs 3,750 for examination, registration and gymkhana, Rs 2,200 for student amenities, laboratory contingency and internet, Rs 2,500 student insurance, Rs 24,354 hall establishment charge, Rs 14,500 mess charges and Rs 1,177 hostel overhead.
Postgraduate fees differ by programme. The official Vinod Gupta School of Management fee sheet for the 2025-27 MBA batch sets tuition at Rs 2,50,000 per semester, with a first-semester grand total of Rs 4,10,660 including deposits, one-time fees and hostel charges. Tuition is waived for SC, ST and PwD students.
Best MBA colleges in India: fees and entrance examsRead →How Good Are IIT Kharagpur Placements?
Placement outcomes are strong and independently documented. In the institute's NIRF 2025 submission, the 2023-24 four-year UG batch recorded a median salary of Rs 19,76,000 a year, the five-year UG batch Rs 20,43,000, and the two-year PG batch Rs 14,00,000, alongside many entering higher studies.
The NIRF 2025 data records 679 students graduating in minimum stipulated time from four-year UG programmes in 2023-24, of whom 517 were placed and 83 went on to higher studies. In the five-year UG programmes, 442 of 638 graduates were placed at a median of Rs 20,43,000.
Recruitment is coordinated by the institute's Career Development Centre, which runs the placement season for software, analytics, finance, consulting and core engineering employers. Reported headline packages vary widely year to year and are not a reliable guide; the NIRF median is the figure worth planning against.
Where Does IIT Kharagpur Rank in 2026?
In the NIRF 2025 rankings published by the Ministry of Education, IIT Kharagpur placed fifth in the Engineering category with a score of 78.69 and sixth in the Overall category with a score of 73.99. It sits behind IIT Madras, Delhi, Bombay and Kanpur in engineering.
| NIRF 2026 Cycle Reference (2025 results) | IIT Kharagpur Position | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering | 5 | 78.69 |
| Overall | 6 | 73.99 |
The NIRF is run by the Ministry of Education and scores institutes on teaching and learning resources, research and professional practice, graduation outcomes, outreach and inclusivity, and perception. IIT Madras topped the Engineering table in 2025 with 88.72.
What Is Campus Life at IIT Kharagpur Like?
IIT Kharagpur is fully residential. Undergraduates, postgraduates and research scholars live in halls of residence on the campus, and hostel seat rent, mess charges and hall establishment charges appear as standard line items in the official fee structure alongside tuition each semester.
First-year students are usually allotted shared rooms in the halls of residence, and hostel charges including mess advance and hall establishment fees are billed each semester rather than annually. Internet connectivity is charged separately as a per-semester line item in the institute fee structure.
Because almost everyone lives on campus, student life revolves around the halls, the inter-hall competitions and the technical and cultural festivals. Facilities include the central library, sports grounds, a gymkhana funded through a per-semester fee, and a campus health unit covered by medical registration and insurance charges.