Quick definitions: **India** is the country running the JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) system; **Advanced** refers to JEE Advanced, the exam whose results decide IIT seat allotment through JoSAA counselling; **Varanasi** and **Dhanbad** are Indian cities that host IITs referenced for context here (IIT (BHU) Varanasi and IIT (ISM) Dhanbad); **Madras**, **Delhi**, **Bombay**, and **Kharagpur** are, respectively, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, and Kharagpur — cities hosting other well-known IITs mentioned for comparison; **Technology** refers to the engineering/applied-science mandate common to all IITs.
Quick Verdict
Neither institute has branch-specific (CSE, Mechanical, Electrical, Civil) closing-rank data available in the sourced facts — what's documented is each institute's overall JoSAA closing rank trend, plus the closing rank for one specific niche program at each. On that overall trend, IIT Indore has historically closed at a noticeably lower (more competitive) rank than IIT (BHU) Varanasi, though both got measurably less competitive between 2025 and 2026 (Careers360).
Snapshot
| Metric | IIT BHU Varanasi | IIT Indore |
|---|---|---|
| JoSAA 2025 Round 2 closing rank (institute-wide, open category) | 13,225 | 10,576 |
| JoSAA 2026 Round 2 closing rank (institute-wide, open category) | 14,204 | 13,934 |
| Change, 2025 → 2026 | +979 (less competitive) | +3,358 (less competitive) |
| Program tied to the 2026 closing rank figure above | Pharmaceutical Engineering & Technology | Applied and Industrial Chemistry (4-year B.Sc.) |
| Approximate total B.Tech seats | ~1,350 | ~370 |
Source: Careers360 JoSAA 2026 Round 2 report; seat counts from InfinityLearn.
Detailed Analysis
The only branch-level cutoff numbers available in the researched facts for this pair are tied to specific niche programs, not to the popular engineering branches most applicants ask about. IIT Indore's 2026 Round 2 closing rank of 13,934 is attached to its "Applied and Industrial Chemistry" 4-year B.Sc. program, and IIT (BHU) Varanasi's 2026 Round 2 closing rank of 14,204 is attached to its "Pharmaceutical Engineering & Technology" program (Careers360). These are useful as an overall difficulty signal, but they are not CSE, Mechanical, Electrical, or Civil cutoffs — if you need branch-specific numbers for those, this dataset simply doesn't include them, and it would be wrong to guess.
Looking at the institute-wide trend instead: in the 2025 JoSAA Round 2 cycle, IIT Indore's closing rank stood at 10,576, notably lower (i.e., more competitive to get into) than IIT (BHU) Varanasi's 13,225 (Careers360). By the 2026 Round 2 cycle, both institutes' closing ranks rose — meaning both became easier to get into — but Indore's jump was far larger: from 10,576 to 13,934, an increase of 3,358 places, among the largest shifts recorded for any IIT that year. BHU's closing rank moved more modestly, from 13,225 to 14,204, a rise of 979 places (Careers360). The net effect is that the gap between the two institutes' closing ranks narrowed substantially in 2026 compared to 2025.
One likely factor behind persistently different cutoffs is seat count: IIT (BHU) Varanasi offers roughly 1,350 total B.Tech seats against IIT Indore's roughly 370 (InfinityLearn). A much larger seat pool at BHU generally pushes its closing rank higher (less competitive) for a given level of applicant demand, all else equal — while Indore's smaller, more selective seat pool has historically kept its closing rank tighter. Note also that reserved-category cutoffs (OBC-NCL, EWS, SC, ST, and the horizontal PwD and supernumerary female-seat categories) exist across the IIT system and shift the open-category numbers discussed here — the sourced facts include the general reservation percentages (45% Open, 27% OBC-NCL, 10% EWS, 15% SC, 7.5% ST, plus a 5% horizontal PwD reservation and an additional 20% supernumerary female intake) but do not break these down specifically for BHU or Indore (InfinityLearn).
Verdict
Winner (more competitive/selective on the numbers available): IIT Indore, whose institute-wide closing rank has historically sat lower (tighter) than IIT (BHU) Varanasi's, even after both became less competitive in 2026. Runner-up: IIT (BHU) Varanasi. The one condition under which this "winner" framing should flip for your purposes: if you specifically want CSE, Mechanical, Electrical, or Civil branch cutoffs — neither institute's branch-level numbers for those specific programs are available here, so you should verify directly against the official JoSAA seat matrix rather than rely on the institute-wide trend as a stand-in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Which IIT has a lower (more competitive) overall closing rank?
IIT Indore, at 10,576 in the 2025 Round 2 cycle versus IIT (BHU) Varanasi's 13,225 (Careers360).
Q: Did cutoffs get easier or harder in 2026?
Easier at both institutes — BHU's closing rank rose by 979 places and Indore's rose by 3,358 places between the 2025 and 2026 Round 2 cycles (Careers360).
Q: Are CSE-specific cutoffs available for either institute?
Not in the sourced data for this comparison — the only branch-level figures available are for Pharmaceutical Engineering & Technology at BHU and Applied and Industrial Chemistry at Indore.
Q: Why might IIT Indore's cutoff be tighter than IIT BHU's?
One likely factor is seat count: BHU offers roughly 1,350 total B.Tech seats versus Indore's roughly 370, and a larger seat pool generally means a higher (less competitive) closing rank for similar demand (InfinityLearn).
Q: How many total B.Tech seats does each institute have?
Approximately 1,350 at IIT (BHU) Varanasi and approximately 370 at IIT Indore (InfinityLearn).
Q: What reservation categories apply to IIT admissions generally?
Across the IIT system: 45% Open/General, 27% OBC-NCL, 10% EWS, 15% SC, and 7.5% ST, plus a 5% horizontal PwD reservation and an additional 20% supernumerary female intake added on top of the regular seats (InfinityLearn). The sourced facts don't break these down specifically for BHU or Indore.
Q: Can I use the institute-wide closing rank as a proxy for a specific branch's cutoff?
Not reliably — the institute-wide figures here are tied to specific niche programs (Pharmaceutical Engineering & Technology at BHU, Applied and Industrial Chemistry at Indore), not to CSE or core engineering branches, which typically close at much lower (more competitive) ranks than niche programs.
Related
For the complete picture beyond Branch Cutoffs — placements, academics, campus life, and more — see the full IIT BHU Varanasi vs IIT Indore comparison.