New Delhi: India’s premier engineering institutes, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), are facing a worrying downturn in placements, with more than half of the 23 IITs witnessing a decline of over 10 percentage points in job placements for BTech students between 2021-22 and 2023-24, according to data disclosed by the Union Government.
The figures, presented to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports, reveal an alarming trend of declining campus placements, barring IIT (BHU) Varanasi. The remaining 22 IITs reported a drop in placements, with some of the most reputed institutes among the worst affected.
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Friday 28 March 2025
Older IITs see significant dip
Among the established IITs, placement rates plummeted significantly between 2021-22 and 2023-24:
• IIT Madras: Dropped by 12 percentage points (85.71% to 73.29%)
• IIT Bombay: Declined by around 13 percentage points (96.11% to 83.39%)
• IIT Kanpur: Down by 11 percentage points (93.63% to 82.48%)
• IIT Delhi: Suffered the sharpest fall among the old IITs with a 15 percentage-point drop (87.69% to 72.81%)
Regional IITs hit hardest
The newer IITs bore the brunt of the downturn, with IIT Dharwad experiencing the steepest drop, as placement rates plunged by nearly 25 percentage points, from 90.20% in 2021-22 to 65.56% in 2023-24. IIT Jammu also saw a significant decline, with placements falling from 92% to 70% during the same period.
In 2021-22, 14 out of 23 IITs recorded over 90% placements. However, by 2023-24, only three IITs – Jodhpur, Patna, and Goa – managed to sustain that benchmark, with IIT Jodhpur topping the list at 92.98%.
Market trends or structural issues?
The Parliamentary Committee, chaired by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh, expressed concern over the “unusual decline” in placements at IITs and other top engineering institutions like the National Institutes of Technology (NITs). The committee observed that the drop in placements coincides with a decline in average financial packages offered to students between 2022-23 and 2023-24.
While acknowledging that factors such as students opting for higher education or entrepreneurship may have influenced the trend, the panel emphasized that the downturn reflects a broader employment crisis. The committee urged the Education Ministry to explore strategies to enhance the employability of IIT graduates in a rapidly changing job market.
Call for action
The declining placement figures have raised red flags about the state of India’s employment landscape, particularly in the tech and engineering sectors. With top-tier IITs witnessing such a sharp dip, experts argue that the government and academia must collaborate to bridge the gap between industry demands and the skillsets of graduates.
As India positions itself as a global technology hub, the fate of IIT graduates will serve as a litmus test for the country’s higher education system and its ability to generate employment-ready professionals.
