Quick Verdict
There's no clean single winner here because the sourced data is asymmetric: a full branch-wise cutoff table exists for IIT Delhi's 2026 Round 2 admissions, but no equivalent branch-by-branch table for IIT Madras turned up in this research. On the one metric that is directly comparable — each institute's overall (loosest-branch) closing rank for 2026 — IIT Madras is marginally tighter, closing at 11,166 versus IIT Delhi's 12,244 (engineering.careers360.com), meaning Madras's weakest seat is slightly harder to get than Delhi's weakest seat. But without Madras's branch-wise detail, a true apples-to-apples comparison across individual programs (like Computer Science) isn't possible from what's available.
Terminology: "Bachelor" refers to an undergraduate degree (e.g., Bachelor of Technology, B.Tech); "JEE Advanced" is the entrance exam used for admission to the 23 IITs across India, including IIT Delhi and IIT Madras (Madras being the historical name for the city of Chennai). "Bombay" is the historical name for Mumbai and home to IIT Bombay, referenced here for context.
Snapshot
| Metric | IIT Delhi | IIT Madras |
|---|---|---|
| Round 2 overall closing rank, 2025 (general category) | 10,036 (engineering.careers360.com) | 9,555 (engineering.careers360.com) |
| Round 2 overall closing rank, 2026 (general category) | 12,244 — Design program (engineering.careers360.com) | 11,166 — Biological Science (BS) (engineering.careers360.com) |
| Change vs. prior year | +2,208 (cutoff loosened, i.e. easier) (engineering.careers360.com) | +1,611 (cutoff loosened, i.e. easier) (engineering.careers360.com) |
| CSE (4-yr B.Tech), Round 2 2026 opening–closing rank | 35–123 (collegedost.in) | Not available in sourced data |
| Tightest branch cited in sourced data | CSE, 35–123 (collegedost.in) | Not available in sourced data |
| Loosest branch cited in sourced data | Textile Technology, 5,007–6,151 (collegedost.in) | Biological Science (BS), closing 11,166 (institute-wide loosest, per the closing-rank table) (engineering.careers360.com) |
| New program added for 2026 | Abu Dhabi Campus Electrical Engineering (engineering.careers360.com) | BS in Mathematics (engineering.careers360.com) |
Detailed Analysis
How JoSAA cutoffs work. Each IIT publishes its own branch-wise opening and closing ranks after every round of JoSAA counselling; the opening rank is the first rank at which a seat is allotted in a given institute, branch, and category, while the closing rank is the last (collegedost.in). These figures shift round to round as candidates freeze, float, slide, or withdraw their seats, and they're driven by the number of applicants, exam difficulty, and seat availability that year (collegedost.in; racstar.in). Candidates are judged against their JEE Advanced All India Rank (AIR) for IIT admissions specifically (collegedost.in; engineering.careers360.com).
IIT Delhi's branch spread is well documented. The sourced Round 2 2026 table for IIT Delhi shows an enormous spread by branch: Computer Science and Engineering (4-year B.Tech) closed at rank 123 (opening at 35), the CSE dual degree (5-year) closed at 211, and Mathematics and Computing closed at 320 — all extremely competitive. At the other end, Textile Technology closed at 6,151, Design at 12,244, and Chemistry (BSc) at 8,430, showing how much cutoffs loosen for less in-demand programs at the same institute (collegedost.in).
IIT Madras's branch-wise picture is incomplete here. No comparable program-by-program table for IIT Madras appears in the sourced research, so a genuine head-to-head on, say, CSE-vs-CSE or Mechanical-vs-Mechanical cutoffs cannot be made from this data. What is available is that IIT Madras's own loosest 2026 seat (Biological Science, BS) closed at 11,166 — tighter than IIT Delhi's loosest seat (Design, at 12,244) (engineering.careers360.com).
A conflicting signal worth flagging. One source states that "IIT Delhi follows closely as the second most competitive choice for the same programme, whereas IIT Kanpur tends to close a bit wider than Bombay, Delhi, and Madras" (collegedost.in) — implying Delhi ranks just behind Bombay in competitiveness for a top program, ahead of Madras and Kanpur. That reads somewhat differently from the institute-wide closing-rank comparison above, where Madras's overall weakest seat is tighter than Delhi's. The likely explanation is that these are two different measures — one about a specific popular program, the other about each institute's single loosest seat across all its programs — so both can be true simultaneously; this research doesn't let us reconcile them further.
Both institutes eased slightly in 2026. JoSAA analysis explicitly lists IIT Delhi and IIT Madras among the institutes that became easier to get into in Round 2 2026 versus 2025, alongside IIT Indore (engineering.careers360.com). Delhi's overall closing rank loosened by 2,208 positions and Madras's by 1,611 — so Delhi's easiest-to-get seat opened up somewhat more than Madras's did, year over year.
Verdict
Based strictly on the sourced numbers, IIT Madras's institute-wide cutoff is marginally tighter than IIT Delhi's for 2026 (11,166 vs. 12,244 on each institute's loosest seat), and its overall closing rank loosened by less year-over-year. IIT Delhi is the close runner-up, and its extremely competitive CSE cutoff (closing at rank 123) confirms its flagship program remains as selective as any in the country. Pick IIT Delhi over IIT Madras on cutoff grounds specifically if you're targeting a niche branch outside CSE/core engineering (like Design or Textile Technology) where Delhi's documented cutoffs are comparatively more forgiving — though note IIT Madras's equivalent branch-wise cutoffs weren't available here for a fair comparison, so this should be verified against JoSAA's official data before relying on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does "closing rank" mean in JoSAA cutoffs?
It's the last (highest) JEE Advanced rank at which a seat was allotted in a specific institute, branch, and category in a given round (collegedost.in).
Q: What was IIT Delhi's CSE cutoff in Round 2, 2026?
The 4-year B.Tech CSE program opened at rank 35 and closed at rank 123 (collegedost.in).
Q: What was IIT Madras's CSE cutoff in Round 2, 2026?
Not available — no branch-wise table for IIT Madras was present in the sourced research; check JoSAA's official portal for this figure.
Q: Which IIT Delhi branch has the loosest cutoff?
Textile Technology, which closed at rank 6,151 in Round 2 2026, with Design (a separate, non-engineering B.Tech-adjacent program) closing even later at 12,244 (collegedost.in).
Q: Did cutoffs get tougher or easier between 2025 and 2026?
Both institutes' overall cutoffs loosened (got easier): IIT Delhi by 2,208 ranks and IIT Madras by 1,611 ranks (engineering.careers360.com).
Q: Are cutoffs the same in every JoSAA round?
No — a branch's closing rank can tighten or widen between rounds depending on how many admitted candidates freeze, float, slide, or withdraw their seats (collegedost.in).
Q: Did either institute add new programs for 2026?
Yes — IIT Delhi added an Electrical Engineering program on its Abu Dhabi campus, and IIT Madras added a BS in Mathematics (engineering.careers360.com).
Q: Which institute is more selective overall for 2026?
By institute-wide (loosest-seat) closing rank, IIT Madras (11,166) is marginally more selective than IIT Delhi (12,244), though branch-by-branch data for Madras wasn't available to confirm this holds across individual programs (engineering.careers360.com).
Related
For the complete picture beyond Branch Cutoffs — placements, academics, campus life, and more — see the full IIT Delhi vs IIT Madras comparison.