IIT BTech Placements Improve in 2024-25 but Remain Below 2021-22 Peak: RTI Data

New data on BTech placements at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) for the 2024-25 academic year indicates a notable improvement compared to the previous year, although figures are yet to reach the highs of 2021-22. The information comes from Right to Information (RTI) responses submitted by 14 of the 23 IITs, offering insights into trends in campus recruitment and sector preferences.

According to the data, three-fourths of the IITs reporting have witnessed an increase in placement percentages in 2024-25 relative to 2023-24, a year which had seen a sharp slump across most campuses. Despite the rebound, the placement rates still fall short of the levels recorded in the 2021-22 academic year, when several IITs reported near-total placements.

Placement Decline and Recovery: A Three-Year Overview

The decline in placements during 2023-24 had raised concerns among educators and policymakers. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, chaired by Digvijaya Singh, noted in its March 2025 report that more than half of the IITs experienced placement drops exceeding 10 percentage points compared to 2021-22. The report described the fall across all but one IIT as an “unusual decline,” highlighting the unexpected contraction in opportunities for undergraduate students.

The latest figures for 2024-25, while showing improvement, still reflect a placement percentage lower than the 2021-22 benchmark. Of the 14 IITs for which data was available:

• 13 recorded over 90% placement in 2021-22, including 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, only IIT Mandi and IIT Goa exceeded 90%, with IIT Bhubaneswar also standing at 90%.

This trend demonstrates both recovery and continued variability in placement outcomes across the IIT system.

Detailed Placement Trends Across IITs

A comparison of placement percentages over three years at select IITs illustrates the trajectory:

The data highlights that while many IITs have regained ground from the 2023-24 slump, placement percentages remain uneven, reflecting both institutional differences and broader economic and sectoral trends.

Factors Behind the Placement Trends

IIT Directors attribute the improvement in 2024-25 to multiple factors. Following the 2023-24 downturn, institutes actively expanded outreach to more companies and encouraged recruiters to consider a wider pool of students.

Prof Rajeev Ahuja, Director of IIT Ropar, explained that some students pursue start-ups or higher education, or secure offers outside the campus placement process, which are not reflected in the official placement statistics. This partly accounts for the continued gap compared to 2021-22.

At IIT Ropar, for instance:

• Placement percentages dropped from 88% (2021-22) to 75% (2023-24) and recovered to 80% (2024-25).
• The number of students appearing for placements rose from 252 (2021-22) to 321 (2024-25).

Prof Ahuja also highlighted a shift in student preferences: “Earlier, students from all branches aimed for IT roles, including those in civil and mechanical engineering. Now, core branches and manufacturing are picking up,” he noted. The revival of core engineering and manufacturing placements has helped stabilize the overall placement figures.

Changing Student Preferences and Perceptions

Traditionally, students have viewed jobs in software, consulting, and finance as more lucrative, leading to higher demand in IT sectors. However, trends suggest a growing awareness of stability and long-term career prospects in core industries.

“Student perception is changing…stability is becoming important. Looking at the situation in the US, students are also realizing that manufacturing is a more stable sector. IT can be volatile,” Prof Ahuja added. This shift indicates a rebalancing of interests between high-paying IT roles and stable, traditional engineering sectors.

Sectoral Contributions to Placements

Placement reports from individual IITs provide additional insight into sectoral distribution:

• IIT Guwahati: Software roles accounted for 45%, while core engineering (graduate or postgraduate engineer trainees/technical executives) contributed 17%.
• IIT Mandi: IT and software dominated with 66%, followed by core technical roles (16%) and consulting (10%). In 2023-24, software and data science contributed 64%, core engineering 13%, and analytics 15%.

These figures reflect that IT and software remain the dominant drivers of placements, while traditional engineering roles are gradually regaining traction.

Rising Participation in Placements

Of the 14 IITs with available data, 13 recorded an increase in the number of students appearing for placements in 2024-25 compared to the previous year.

• At IIT Delhi, placement percentages rose from 72.81% (2023-24) to 79% (2024-25), with the number of participating students increasing from 938 to 987.
• Prof Rangan Banerjee, Director of IIT Delhi, emphasized that the increase in job offers is accompanied by a rise in student participation, influenced by global job market fluctuations and institutional efforts to attract recruiters.

This renewed engagement underscores the resilience of IIT students and the institutes’ proactive placement strategies.

Conclusion: Recovery Amid Structural Shifts

The 2024-25 BTech placement data from IITs shows a partial recovery from the previous year’s slump, driven by increased recruiter outreach, growth in core engineering sectors, and greater student participation. Despite these gains, placement percentages remain below the 2021-22 peak, reflecting both structural changes in the job market and evolving student choices.

The trend highlights the importance of core engineering and manufacturing sectors as stable, long-term career paths, alongside high-demand IT and software roles. Institutes are adapting by broadening recruiter networks and tracking emerging opportunities, ensuring students have access to diverse and meaningful career options.

The data also points to a more nuanced student approach to career planning, considering stability, sectoral growth, and global job trends—signaling an evolving landscape for engineering graduates in India.