IIT Bombay vs IIT Kharagpur: The Complete Comparison

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are India's network of autonomous public engineering and research universities, established under the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961, and governed by a common IIT Council under the Ministry of Education (Wikipedia). IIT Bombay ("Bombay" being the historical name for Mumbai, Maharashtra) and IIT Kharagpur (in Kharagpur, West Bengal) are two of the oldest and most recognized IITs. This guide compares them across rankings, academics, and campus scale using only what the sourced research actually supports — and it says plainly where that research came up short.

Quick Verdict

This comparison is for a student or parent deciding between two well-established, first-generation IITs. On the numbers this research batch actually turned up, the verdict leans toward IIT Bombay, mainly on recent ranking and demand signals, while IIT Kharagpur remains a very strong alternative built on scale and history.

Quick Comparison Table

Sources: Wikipedia — Indian Institutes of Technology; Wikipedia — IIT Kharagpur; BYJU'S

QS Ranking, Placements (average package), Highest Package, Campus Size, Hostel details, Research Output figures, and Alumni Network data are not included above because the sourced research for this comparison did not contain usable numbers for those rows — see the relevant sections below, where each gap is called out explicitly rather than filled with invented figures.

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose IIT Bombay if:

Choose IIT Kharagpur if:

Placements

Snapshot

Analysis

The sourced research for this specific comparison did not surface any concrete placement package figures, recruiter lists, or placement-rate data for either institute — the available sources only confirmed that dedicated placement-comparison content exists elsewhere (for instance, Shiksha mentions that readers "can discover IIT Bombay vs IIT Kharagpur hostel facilities, highest salary, median salary and ROI" in its own comparison guide, without giving the actual numbers in what was captured here). Rather than estimate or borrow figures from elsewhere, this section is left honestly incomplete.

Verdict

No confident placements winner can be declared from the sourced data in this batch — readers who care primarily about placement outcomes should consult each institute's official placement brochure directly.

Academics

Snapshot

Discussion

Both institutes have abolished the once-common practice of letting students switch branches mid-course — Wikipedia lists IIT Bombay, IIT Hyderabad, and IIT Kharagpur together as having ended branch-change "to reduce stress" (Wikipedia). Kharagpur goes a step further by offering a double-major track, letting students graduate with majors in two disciplines — Bombay isn't listed among the IITs offering this option (Wikipedia). On sheer numbers, the two institutes have a nearly identical faculty-to-student ratio (roughly 17 students per faculty member each, computed from the 2023 headcounts), even though Kharagpur is the larger institute overall by both faculty (928 vs. 759) and students (15,862 vs. 12,976) (Wikipedia). Kharagpur's own page additionally discloses 2,735 research scholars as of 2025 (Wikipedia — IIT Kharagpur) — no comparable research-scholar figure for Bombay turned up in this research batch.

Verdict

Too close to call on pure academic quality from this batch's sourced data — Kharagpur wins on scale and curricular breadth (double major, bigger faculty and research-scholar base), while Bombay's citable 2022 NIRF overall rank of 3rd is the stronger single data point in its favor.

Branch Cutoffs

No branch-wise JEE Advanced cutoff data (for CSE, Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, or any other branch) was present in the sourced research for this comparison. Rather than invent plausible-sounding numbers, this section is intentionally left blank of figures — readers should consult the official JoSAA/CSAB cutoff tables for exact, current rank thresholds by branch and category.

Campus Life

IIT Bombay

Pros:

Cons:

IIT Kharagpur

Pros:

Cons:

Verdict: Given the imbalance in sourced information — real hostel and community detail for Kharagpur, almost none for Bombay in this batch — no confident overall Campus Life winner can be declared here; treat this as a partial picture.

Research Opportunities

The sourced facts here are limited to scale indicators rather than direct research-output metrics. IIT Kharagpur discloses a larger overall budget (₹1,302.45 crore per the general IIT list, or ₹1,126.12 crore for 2024–25 per its own page — the two sourced figures don't agree) and a larger faculty base (928) than IIT Bombay (₹896 crore budget, 759 faculty) (Wikipedia; Wikipedia — IIT Kharagpur). Kharagpur also discloses 2,735 research scholars as of 2025 — no equivalent figure for Bombay was found in this batch (Wikipedia — IIT Kharagpur). No publication counts, patent data, international collaboration figures, or PhD-placement statistics were available for either institute.

Verdict: Based only on budget and headcount, Kharagpur has the larger absolute research apparatus — but since budget and headcount aren't the same as research output or quality, and no output metrics were sourced for either institute, this should be read strictly as a scale comparison, not a quality one.

Alumni Network

No sourced facts on startup founders, notable alumni names, or global alumni presence were found in this research batch for either institute. Rather than fabricate names or counts, this section is left as an honest gap — dedicated alumni-network research would be needed to fill it in.

Student Perspective

Pros and Cons

Final Verdict

On the sourced evidence gathered for this comparison, IIT Bombay holds a modest edge — it's the institute most JEE toppers currently choose and it carries a citable top-3 overall NIRF rank from 2022, while IIT Kharagpur's exact current rank wasn't pinned down beyond "top five." That said, a reader should still pick IIT Kharagpur if institutional scale, the country's first-IIT pedigree, or the double-major option matters more to them than Bombay's marginal prestige edge. It's worth being upfront that on placements, branch cutoffs, detailed campus life, research-output quality, and alumni network, this particular research batch didn't turn up enough comparable sourced data to make confident calls — so this verdict leans mainly on ranking and scale signals rather than a full-spectrum comparison, and readers chasing those specific answers should supplement this with official sources.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Which IIT is older, Bombay or Kharagpur?

A: IIT Kharagpur, established in 1951 as India's first IIT; IIT Bombay followed in 1958 (Wikipedia).

Q: Which IIT has more faculty?

A: IIT Kharagpur, with 928 faculty versus IIT Bombay's 759 (2023 figures) (Wikipedia).

Q: Which IIT has more students?

A: IIT Kharagpur, with 15,862 versus IIT Bombay's 12,976 (2023 figures) (Wikipedia).

Q: What is IIT Bombay's NIRF rank?

A: 3rd overall, per the 2022 NIRF ranking cited by BYJU'S; no more recent exact number appeared in this batch's sourced facts (BYJU'S).

Q: Does IIT Kharagpur offer a double-major degree?

A: Yes — Wikipedia lists it alongside IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, and IIT Gandhinagar as offering this option; IIT Bombay is not listed among them (Wikipedia).

Q: Can students change branches after admission at either institute?

A: No — Wikipedia lists both IIT Bombay and IIT Kharagpur among the IITs that have abolished branch-change to reduce student stress (Wikipedia).

Q: Which IIT has the bigger budget?

A: Sourced figures conflict: the general Wikipedia IIT list puts Kharagpur at ₹1,302.45 crore versus Bombay's ₹896 crore, while Kharagpur's own Wikipedia page lists a 2024–25 budget of ₹1,126.12 crore — either figure puts Kharagpur ahead of Bombay (Wikipedia; Wikipedia — IIT Kharagpur).

Q: What are placement packages like at each institute?

A: Not available in the sourced research for this comparison — check each institute's official placement report for current figures.

Q: What are the branch-wise JEE Advanced cutoffs for each?

A: Not available in the sourced research for this comparison — consult JoSAA/CSAB's official cutoff data.

Q: Which IIT is better for research?

A: The sourced data only shows scale (Kharagpur has more faculty and a disclosed 2,735 research scholars as of 2025) — no output-quality metrics like publication counts were available for either institute (Wikipedia — IIT Kharagpur).

At a Glance

Sources