The top engineering colleges in India like IITs, NITs, and other private engineering colleges have been ranked by NIRF and many other private ranking agencies. There are 4,658 such colleges, offering multiple degrees like BTech, MTech, PhD, ME, BE, etc.
NIRF has ranked IIT Madras as the best engineering college in India in its 2019 survey.
Out of the 4,658 engineering colleges, 778 are public and 3,880 are private engineering colleges in India. 45 of these colleges also offer the courses in correspondence mode while 41 have provision for part-time engineering education.
The list of top engineering colleges in India includes 23 IITs like IIT Kanpur, 31 NITs like NIT Delhi, and other top institutes like IISc Bangalore, BITS Pilani and Banasthali Vidyapith, Jaipur. The every day improvements in their course curriculum are challenging the top engineering colleges in world.
More and more companies are looking for BTech (CSE) graduates. Check the top engineering colleges in India for Computer Science.
| Top B.Tech. Colleges in India | Top M.Tech. Colleges in India |
Top Engineering Colleges in India: Rankings
Many ranking agencies release the list of these colleges rank wise every year. These rankings are also released according to different categories like top private and top public engineering colleges in India, top engineering colleges in south India, etc. Many agencies also release rankings city-wise, state-wise and stream-wise.
Some of the examples of these ranking lists are Top MBA Colleges in India, Top Engineering Colleges in Karnataka, etc. These rankings are based on different parameters like Placements, Faculty Quality, Teacher-Student Ratio, Perception of the University, Fees, etc. We have listed some of the top rankings for these engineering colleges below.
Top Engineering Colleges in India: NIRF Ranking
NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) is the ranking agency of the Ministry of HRD, Government of India. It releases the most trusted and comprehensive ranking list of the top colleges in India. NIRF rankings are released for 8 different categories including University, College, Engineering, Management, Architecture, Pharmacy, Law, and Medical colleges.
The following table shows the top engineering colleges in India ranking 2019 as released by NIRF. We have covered the rankings of many other colleges also apart from just IITs.
| College Name | NIRF All India Rank 2019 | NIRF All India Rank 2018 | Change | Average Annual B.Tech./B.E. Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IIT Madras | 1 | 1 | 0 | INR 75,200 |
| IIT Delhi | 2 | 3 | +1 | INR 2,25,000 |
| IIT Bombay | 3 | 2 | -1 | INR 2,11,500 |
| IIT Kharagpur | 4 | 4 | 0 | INR 82,000 |
| Anna University, Chennai | 9 | 8 | -1 | INR 55,000 |
| NIT Trichy | 10 | 11 | +1 | INR 1,62,000 |
| IIT BHU Varanasi | 11 | 19 | +8 | INR 2,28,000 |
| Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai | 12 | 10 | -2 | INR 85,400 |
| Jadavpur University, Kolkata | 14 | 12 | -2 | INR 2,400 |
| ISM Dhanbad | 15 | 13 | -2 | INR 2,30,000 |
NIRF has ranked IIT Madras as the best engineering college in India. The list also features some top government colleges and universities.
Out of the top 10 institutes, 8 are IITs while 1 spot is filled by an NIT. Anna University, Chennai is the only engineering college in India except IITs and NITs which has been ranked among the top 10 colleges.
Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai has been ranked 12 in India. The institute was ranked 10 last year.
IIT Delhi has replaced IIT Bombay as the 2nd best engineering college in India.
IIT BHU Varanasi has shown an improvement of 8 ranks, the biggest among the top colleges.
Among the popular private engineering colleges, VIT Vellore has been ranked 18, Thapar University 23, and BITS Pilani has been ranked 25th.
Source: NIRF Official Website
Top Engineering Colleges in India: Outlook Ranking
Outlook is a weekly magazine published in India in English language. Outlook conducts a collective survey in partnership with Drshti Strategic Research Services to help students make an informed choice. The following table shows the top engineering colleges in India in 2019 as listed by the Outlook magazine.
| College Name | Outlook All India Rank 2019 | Outlook All India Rank 2018 | Change | Average Annual B.Tech./B.E. Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IIT Madras | 1 | Not Participated | - | INR 75,200 |
| IIT Delhi | 2 | 2 | 0 | INR 2,25,000 |
| IIT Bombay | 3 | 1 | -2 | INR 2,11,500 |
| BITS Pilani | 6 | 5 | -1 | INR 4,23,500 |
| NIT Trichy | 8 | Not Participated | - | INR 1,62,000 |
| IIT BHU Varanasi | 9 | Not Participated | - | INR 2,28,000 |
| NSIT New Delhi | 11 | 8 | -3 | INR 1,95,000 |
| VIT Vellore | 13 | 9 | -4 | INR 1,98,000 |
| ISM Dhanbad | 14 | 10 | -4 | INR 2,30,000 |
| DTU New Delhi | 17 | 13 | -4 | INR 1,66,000 |
Outlook has also ranked IIT Madras as the best engineering college in India this year. However, the institute didn’t participate in the survey conducted by Outlook in 2018.
IIT Bombay, which was ranked 1st last year, has slipped to 3rd position this year in the latest ranking list.
IIT Delhi has maintained its 2nd spot. These institutes are followed by other IITs like those in Kharagpur and Kanpur.
The top private engineering colleges in this list include BITS Pilani and VIT Vellore.
The list also features the prestigious Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad at the 14th spot. It was ranked 10th in 2018.
Outlook releases rankings on the basis of 5 parameters. Their distribution is shown below.
Source: Outlook Official Website
Top Engineering Colleges in India: The Week Ranking
The Week is a news magazine published in India every week in 5 cities. The agency conducts ranking surveys for colleges and universities in India every year along with the Hansa Research foundation. The following table shows and compares the latest rankings released by The Week for top engineering colleges in India.
| College Name | The Week All India Rank 2019 | The Week All India Rank 2018 | Change | Average Annual B.Tech./B.E. Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IIT Delhi | 1 | 1 | 0 | INR 2,25,000 |
| IIT Bombay | 2 | 2 | 0 | INR 2,11,500 |
| IIT Madras | 3 | 4 | +1 | INR 75,200 |
| BITS Pilani | 7 | 8 | +1 | INR 4,23,500 |
| Anna University, Chennai | 8 | 11 | +3 | INR 55,000 |
| NIT Trichy | 10 | 12 | +2 | INR 1,62,000 |
| ISM Dhanbad | 12 | 15 | +3 | INR 2,30,000 |
| BIT Mesra, Ranchi | 16 | 18 | +2 | INR 2,46,000 |
| Jadavpur University, Kolkata | 17 | 20 | +3 | INR 2,400 |
| IIEST Shibpur | 18 | 19 | +1 | INR 1,36,500 |
The Week has ranked IIT Delhi as the best engineering college in India. The premier institute grabbed 1st rank previous year also.
IIT Delhi is followed by IIT Bombay and IIT Madras respectively. The list also features NIT Trichy at the 10th rank.
BITS Pilani emerges as the best private engineering college in India here also. The institute has secured an overall rank of 7 this year, an increase of 1 from last year.
Anna University, Chennai has been ranked as the best university for engineering in India. It was also ranked by the NIRF ranking. Another university in this list is Jadavpur University, Kolkata.
The list also features BIT Mesra, ISM Dhanbad and IIEST Shibpur.
Top Private Engineering Colleges in India: ROI (Return on Investment)
Return on Investment or ROI shows how profitable it is to pursue a particular course from a particular college. It is the comparison of the fee you invest while studying and the return you get in the form of placement. In the case of popular management and engineering courses, choosing a college or university based on the ROI factor can be very much beneficial. This especially helps when you find it difficult to choose between 2 shortlisted colleges.
| College Name | Average Annual Fee | Average Placement Package | ROI Percentage* |
|---|---|---|---|
| M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore | INR 67,000 | INR 4,00,000 | 597% |
| BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore | INR 60,000 | INR 3,50,000 | 583% |
| BIT Mesra, Ranchi | INR 2,46,000 | INR 9,50,000 | 382% |
| SRM University, Chennai | INR 2,60,000 | INR 9,00,000 | 346% |
| Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore | INR 1,98,000 | INR 6,00,000 | 303% |
| KLS Gogte Institute of Technology, Belgaum | INR 85,250 | INR 2,34,000 | 274% |
| Bharati Vidyapeeth University College of Engineering, Pune | INR 1,20,000 | INR 2,50,000 | 208% |
| Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani | INR 4,24,000 | INR 7,50,000 | 177% |
*ROI={(Average Placement Package)/(Average Annual Fee)}*100%
M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore emerges as the best engineering college in India ROI wise. The institute offers an average package of INR 4,00,000 while it charges an average fee of only INR 67,000 per year.
Top Engineering Colleges in India: Admission Process
India has 4,658 engineering colleges out of which 3,880 are private and 778 are public. These colleges offer education in both full-time and part-time mode. Some colleges also offer correspondence education. The commonly offered courses in the top engineering colleges in India include B.Tech., M.Tech., and Ph.D. The following chart explains the ratio of private and public engineering colleges in India.
Source: Official Survey
Admissions to these colleges are mainly done through national level top engineering entrance exams like JEE Main and GATE.
Many colleges also consider popular state level engineering entrance exams like TNEA, TANCET, UPSEE, MHCET, and KCET.
Some private institutes also conduct their own entrance tests. Popular examples are BITSAT, SRMJEEE, VITEEE, etc.
The following chart shows the number of top engineering colleges in India accepting the scores of different entrance exams.
Source: Official Institute Websites
IIT Madras
The Indian Institute of Technology at Chennai is commonly known as IIT Madras. The institute boasts a strong crowd of 550 faculty members, 8000 students and a supporting staff of 1250. The campus is spread over 250 hectares and has more than 100 laboratories.
IIT Madras has 9 dedicated departments for imparting engineering education. These include Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Design, Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, and Ocean Engineering.
The institute offers B.Tech. in 9 specializations and M.Tech. in 31 specializations. There are also dual degree programs running in 13 specializations.
IIT Madras also offers interdisciplinary engineering dual degree programs in 6 fields. These are listed in the table below.
| Advance Materials and Nano Technology | Biomedical Engineering |
| Computational Engineering | Data Science |
| Energy Systems | Robotics |
For B.Tech., IIT Madras gives admissions on the basis of the rank obtained in JEE Advanced exam. The following chart shows the opening and closing ranks for the general category students in the admissions 2019.
Source: IIT Madras Official Website
NIT Trichy
NIT Trichy, formerly known as the Regional College of Engineering, Trichy, was founded in 1964. It is one of the oldest institutes among all the NITs and institutes of national importance in India.
The institute has been ranked as the best NIT in India and the 10th best engineering college in India.
NIT Trichy offers B.Tech. in 9 specializations, M.Tech. in 21 specializations and even Ph.D. courses.
The institute also offers admissions to International Students under the DASA scheme.
NIT Trichy offers good placement opportunities to students. In the majority of the specializations offered by the institute, more than 90% of the students get placed. The following chart compares the B.Tech placement percentage of NIT Trichy in 2018-19 and 2017-18.
Source: NIT Trichy Official Website
IISc Bangalore
IISc Bangalore ranks as the 2nd best engineering college in India and offers multiple engineering courses with a main focus of research. Rather than offering a B.E./B.Tech. degree, IISc Bangalore offers a B.S. (Research) degree in the field of Engineering.
IISc Bangalore admission process generally takes place during the months of Feb, March, and April.
The institute offers 120 seats for its B.S. program and 400 students for the master degree courses.
There is also a reservation provision of 50 seats for the sponsored candidates. These include those students who are recommended by the defence services, ISRO, DRDO, etc.
For admission in B.S. (Research) program, students need to submit their scores obtained in KVPY or IIT-JEE exams. For admissions through IIT-JEE (Main and Advanced), students need to obtain the following minimum marks.
| Category | Minimum Score |
|---|---|
| General | 60% |
| OBC-NCL | 54% |
| SC/ST/PH | 30% |
After the main admission process is completed, IISc Bangalore also conducts Spot Admission Rounds to fill the vacant seats. The following charts give details of the ranks accepted in the multiple spot rounds held.
Source: IISc Bangalore Official Website
JEE (Advanced) rank holders of 6001-10000 from EWS category were also shortlisted in the final round.
Source: IISc Bangalore Official Website
IISc Bangalore also admits students in its M.Tech. program for multiple specializations.
To pursue M.Tech. from IISc Bangalore, candidates should have a valid GATE score on August 1 of that corresponding year.
Here, in case of M.Tech. also, there is a reservation of 12.5% seats for the sponsored candidates.
The institute offers M.Tech. in a total of 19 specializations.
The following chart shows the seat intake for various specializations of M.Tech. in the college.
Source: IISc Bangalore Official Website
Top Engineering Colleges in India: Zone Wise
The following tables give the rankings of the top engineering colleges in India according to the different zones. These rankings have been released by India Today. India Today is a weekly news magazine published in English language, having a circulation of more than 16,00,000.
Top Engineering Colleges in North India
| College Name | Zonal Rank | Average Annual Fee |
|---|---|---|
| IIT Delhi | 1 | INR 2,25,000 |
| IIT Kanpur | 2 | INR 2,14,000 |
| BITS Pilani | 3 | INR 4,24,000 |
| Thapar University, Patiala | 4 | INR 3,10,000 |
| IIIT Allahabad | 5 | INR 1,44,000 |
Top Engineering Colleges in East India
| College Name | Zonal Rank | Average Annual Fee |
|---|---|---|
| IIT Kharagpur | 1 | INR 82,000 |
| ISM Dhanbad | 2 | INR 2,30,000 |
| IIT Guwahati | 3 | INR 2,20,000 |
| BIT Mesra, Ranchi | 4 | INR 2,46,000 |
| IIT Bhubaneswar | 5 | INR 2,14,000 |
Top Engineering Colleges in West India
| College Name | Zonal Rank | Average Annual Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Symbiosis Institute of Technology, Pune | 1 | INR 2,80,000 |
| IIT Gandhinagar | 2 | INR 2,60,000 |
| IIITM Gwalior | 3 | INR 1,50,000 |
| D.Y. Patil College of Engineering, Pune | 4 | INR 1,23,000 |
| K.J. Somaiya College of Engineering, Mumbai | 5 | INR 1,80,000 |
Top Engineering Colleges in South India
| College Name | Zonal Rank | Average Annual Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore | 1 | INR 1,98,000 |
| SRM Engineering College | 2 | INR 6,50,000 |
| Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal | 3 | INR 3,87,000 |
| PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore | 4 | INR 87,000 |
| International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Hyderabad | 5 | INR 2,80,000 |
Top Engineering Colleges in India: Except IITs and NITs
IITs and NITs are institutes of national importance and have their own charm. However, not everyone manages to get through their rigorous admission procedures. Following is a list of top engineering colleges in India except IIT and NIT in which students can get admissions through common engineering entrance exams.
| IISc Bangalore | ISM Dhanbad |
| BITS Pilani | Banasthali Vidyapeeth |
| VIT Vellore | SRM Chennai |
| Institute of Chemical Technology | Anna University |
| Jadavpur University | Delhi Technological University (DTU) |
Top Engineering Colleges in India: Entrance Exam Wise
Admissions to various top engineering colleges in India are done through multiple engineering entrance exams, both national-level and state-level. B.Tech. admissions are majorly done on the basis of JEE Main score while M.Tech. admissions are given through GATE. Some of the state level engineering entrance exams are TS EAMCET, WBJEE, GCET, etc.
Many universities also conduct their own entrance exams. Popular private engineering entrance exams include BITSAT, VITEEE, SRMJEEE, etc. The sections below mention some of the top M.Tech. and B.Tech. colleges in India according to the entrance exam scores they accept and not accept.
Top Engineering Colleges in India: Accepting JEE Main Score
IIT-JEE is the most popular engineering entrance exam in India for the undergraduate courses like B.Tech. and B.E. The first level of the exam is JEE Main for which more than 12 lakh students appear every year. The ones who clear it go through JEE Advanced. While JEE Advanced score is considered for admission in IITs, most of the private and Tier-3 colleges consider JEE Main score for admissions.
Some of the top engineering colleges in India accepting JEE Main score are:
National Institutes of Technology (NITs)
Delhi Technological University (DTU), New Delhi
Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur
Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala
Birla Institute of Technology (BIT Mesra), Ranchi
Top Engineering Colleges in India: Accepting GATE Score
GATE or Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering is the national entrance exam to pursue M.Tech. from the top engineering colleges in India. GATE score is also considered to fetch a job in many PSUs in India. Following are some of the top M.Tech. colleges in India accepting GATE score.
Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani
National Institutes of Technology (NITs)
Delhi Technological University (DTU), New Delhi
PSG College of Technology (PSGCT), Coimbatore
Also Check,
Top Engineering Colleges in India: Placement Wise
The presence of numerous premier institutes like IITs, NITs, IISc Bangalore, ISM Dhanbad and multiple other private colleges in India leads to good engineering placements every year.
The average engineering package in India varies from INR 5-9 lakh per annum.
As per PayScale, the average B.Tech. package in India is INR 6 LPA and the average M.Tech. package is INR 7.2 LPA.
Among the top private engineering colleges, BIT Mesra offers one of the highest packages at INR 9.5 lakh.
Students also get opportunities to fetch packages as high as in crore from some of the top IITs in India.
Some of the best recruiters visiting the top engineering colleges in India are listed below.
| Microsoft | Uber | Goldman Sachs |
| Boston Analytics | Flipkart | Zomato |
| Qualcomm | Dell | |
| SanDisk | Bajaj | UBS |
| PayPal | NVIDIA | Titan |
The following graph shows the CTCs offered in some of these engineering colleges for their popular streams.
Source: Official Institute Websites
The specialization you choose matters a lot when it comes to engineering placements. The highest packages often go to the students of CSE (Computers Science and Engineering) branch. Click on the links below to check the top engineering colleges in India stream wise.
Top Engineering Colleges in India: For Computer Science Engineering
CSE or Computer Science Engineering is the most popular computer science branch and fetches some of the highest placement packages. The IT sector is expected to make a business of around $200 billion. Some of the top engineering colleges in India for computer science engineering (CSE) are:
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Madras), Chennai
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi
Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani
National Institute of Technology (NIT Trichy), Tiruchirappalli
International Institute of Information Technology (IIIIT), Hyderabad
Also Check,
Top Engineering Colleges in India: FAQs
Ques. Which are the best colleges for engineering in India?
Ans. Some of the best engineering colleges in India are:
Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs)
National Institutes of Technology (NITs)
Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani
Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai
Ques. Which college is best for electrical engineering in India?
Ans. Some of the best colleges for electrical engineering in India are:
IIT Bombay
IIT Delhi
Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore
Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar
Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi
Ques. Which private college is best for B.Tech.?
Ans. BITS Pilani emerges as the best private college for B.Tech. Some other names include IIIT Hyderabad, PSG Coimbatore, VIT Vellore and SRM Chennai.
Ques. Which college has best placement?
Ans. Among IITs, IIT Bombay and IIT Madras offer really good packages. Other private institutes offering good packages include BITS Pilani, BIT Mesra (Ranchi), VIT Vellore.
Ques. What is the fees for engineering?
Ans. The average annual fee to pursue engineering in India varies from INR 5-15 lakh. Some institutes might charge more.
Ques. Which is the most expensive college in India?
Ans. Some of the most expensive colleges in India are IISc Bangalore, BITS Pilani, Amity University, SRM Chennai and LPU Jalandhar.
Ques. Which NIT is best for EEE?
Ans. NIT Trichy is the best NIT to pursue this course. It has also been ranked as the best NIT in India by NIRF.
Ques. Is NEET required for genetic engineering?
Ans. NEET is not compulsory for genetic engineering. However, in order to become a geneticist, you need to pursue a graduation course in biotech or molecular biology.
Ques. Which entrance exam is for genetic engineering?
Ans. JEE is one of the popular exams to pursue this course.
Ques. What is the fees of IIT B.Tech.?
Ans. The fees to pursue B.Tech. from IIT varies from INR 10-15 lakh.
Ques. Does Google visit IIT?
Ans. Yes, Google does visit the campus of many IITs for placements.
Ques. Which major gets the most jobs?
Ans. CSE or Computer Science Engineering gets the most jobs and the highest placement packages.
