Data on BTech placements at 19 of the 23 IITs shows that three-fourths of them have seen an increase in the percentage of students placed in 2024-25 compared to the previous year, when there had been a sharp slump in placements across most IITs.
Despite the uptick, placement figures for 2024-25 are still below the 2021-22 level across all 19 IITs.
In response to Right to Information applications filed with the 23 IITs on BTech placement figures for 2024-25, 19 provided data. BTech placement statistics from 2021-22 to 2023-24 were presented in a parliamentary standing committee report earlier this year.
Data in the March 2025 report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, headed by Digvijaya Singh, showed that more than half of the country’s 23 IITs had seen placements drop by more than 10 percentage points in 2023-24 compared to 2021-22. The report had flagged the drop in placements across all but one IIT as an “unusual decline”.
Of the 19 IITs for which latest data was available, 13 saw a placement percentage of over 90% in 2021-22. This included IIT Roorkee (98.54%), IIT Kanpur (93.63%), IIT Patna (97.65%), IIT Indore (96.74%), IIT Mandi (98.13%), and IIT Goa (98.65%). In 2024-25, however, only two of the 19 — IIT Mandi and Goa — crossed 90%, while IIT Bhubaneswar stood at 90%. The latest numbers range from 75.65% at IIT Guwahati and 78% at IIT Bhilai, to 95% at IIT Mandi.
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IIT directors said that after the slump in 2023-24, efforts were made to reach out to more companies. On the placement figures remaining lower than the 2021-22 level, Prof Rajeev Ahuja, Director, IIT Ropar, said that students turning to start-ups and higher education, and those who may have received job offers but not through the placement office would not figure in the placement statistics.
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At IIT Ropar, the figure dropped from 88% in 2021-22 to 75% in 2023-24, and has risen to 80% in 2024-25. The number of students who appeared for placements rose from 252 (2021-22) to 292 (2023-24), and 321 (2024-25).
Prof Ahuja attributed the uptick in figures this year compared to last year to a boost in jobs in “core branches” and manufacturing. “Earlier, there was a high demand in IT, and everybody, even students who had done civil engineering, wanted to get into the IT sector. Now, core branches and manufacturing are picking up,” he said. Teachers and directors say jobs like manufacturing associated with ‘core’ disciplines, like civil or mechanical engineering, are traditionally seen as not paying as well as jobs in software, consulting and finance, which are sought after among students from all engineering branches.
“Student perception is changing… stability is becoming important. Looking at the situation in the US, students are also realising… manufacturing is a more stable sector. In IT, there’s a boom, and ups and downs,” Prof Ahuja added.
IIT Guwahati’s placement report for 2024-25 for both UG and PG students shows that jobs in the software sector contributed the most to placements (45%), followed by ‘core engineering’ (graduate or postgraduate engineer trainees/technical executives — 17%).
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IIT Mandi’s placement report for 2024-25 shows that IT and software contributed 66% to placements, followed by ‘core (technical)’ which contributed 16%, and consulting (10%). In 2023-24, the figure was 64% in software and data science, 13% in ‘engineering’, and 15% in ‘analytics’.
Of the 19 IITs for which data was available this year, a total of 13 recorded an increase in the number of students who appeared for placements compared to the previous year.
Prof Rangan Banerjee, Director, IIT Delhi, said, “Job offers have been growing, but the number of students sitting for placements has also been growing. Overall, the nature of jobs, the job market…there are changes globally. The cause and effect are not very clear. There was a blip in the year before, and that has sort of been restored. Some of it is also about institutions making efforts. We’re trying to reach out more, and get more companies. While students are taking up jobs with start-ups as well, there are expectations of a certain pay package.”
At IIT Delhi, the placement percentage fell from 87.69% in 2021-22 to 72.81% in 2023-24, and rose to 79% in 2024-25. The number of students who appeared for placements rose from 707 in 2021-22 to 938 (2023-24), and 987 (2024-25).
