Quick Verdict
IIT Kharagpur (Kharagpur, the first campus to carry the "Indian Institute of Technology" name, founded 1951) has a modest edge over IIT Roorkee (Roorkee, India's oldest technical-education institution, tracing to 1847) on Faculty and Academics — it reports more faculty members and a broader course catalog, and it ranks one spot higher on both the NIRF and India Today engineering rankings. The gap between the two, however, is consistently narrow across every metric available.
Snapshot
| Feature | IIT Kharagpur | IIT Roorkee |
|---|---|---|
| Faculty Count | 500+ | 420+ |
| Courses Offered | 208+ (also cited as 202) | 126+ (also cited as 195) |
| Curriculum | B.Tech, M.Tech, LLB, MBA, PhD | B.Tech, M.Tech, MBA, PhD |
| NIRF Ranking | #5 | #6 |
| India Today Engineering Ranking | 4th of 35 | 5th of 35 |
(Sources: jeecounselling.in; shiksha.com; pw.live)
Detailed Analysis
On faculty strength, IIT Kharagpur reports 500+ faculty members against IIT Roorkee's 420+ — a meaningful but not overwhelming difference (jeecounselling.in). Kharagpur also offers a notably broader course catalog: one source puts it at 208+ courses versus Roorkee's 126+, while a second, independent source gives closer figures of 202 for Kharagpur and 195 for Roorkee (jeecounselling.in; shiksha.com). Since these two course-count figures disagree noticeably, especially for Roorkee (126+ vs 195), readers should treat the exact numbers as rough estimates rather than precise counts — though both sources agree Kharagpur offers somewhat more.
One structural difference stands out: IIT Kharagpur uniquely offers an LLB (law) degree alongside its B.Tech, M.Tech, MBA, and PhD programs, a program type IIT Roorkee's academic offering doesn't include per sourced data (selectyouruniversity.com). On teaching philosophy, the same comparison source frames the two institutes differently: Kharagpur emphasizes "general engineering education with industry-based learning and innovation hubs," while Roorkee "puts specialization in laboratories and applied research and serves the international career prospects" — suggesting a difference in academic style rather than one institute simply outclassing the other (selectyouruniversity.com).
On national rankings, both institutes sit close together at the top of the field: IIT Kharagpur holds NIRF rank #5 versus IIT Roorkee's #6, and on the separate India Today Engineering ranking, Kharagpur places 4th of 35 top engineering colleges versus Roorkee's 5th (jeecounselling.in; pw.live). Both rankings agree on the same one-spot gap in Kharagpur's favor, which is a reasonably consistent signal despite coming from two different ranking systems. Sourced facts do not include a specific student-to-faculty ratio for either institute, so that comparison can't be made with precision here.
Verdict
Winner: IIT Kharagpur, with more faculty, a broader (if imprecisely counted) course catalog, a unique LLB offering, and a one-spot lead on two independent national rankings. Runner-up: IIT Roorkee, which trails only narrowly on every metric and offers a distinct academic emphasis on applied-research labs and international career prospects. The one condition under which a reader should pick IIT Roorkee instead: if you're specifically drawn to its lab-based, applied-research academic style over Kharagpur's industry-linked, general-engineering approach — a difference of philosophy rather than of quality, which the sourced comparisons treat as a matter of fit, not superiority.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Which IIT has more faculty, Kharagpur or Roorkee?
A: IIT Kharagpur, with 500+ faculty versus IIT Roorkee's 420+ (jeecounselling.in).
Q: Which offers more courses?
A: IIT Kharagpur, though the exact count varies by source — 208+ versus 126+ per one source, or 202 versus 195 per another (jeecounselling.in; shiksha.com).
Q: Does either institute offer a law degree?
A: Yes — IIT Kharagpur offers an LLB program, which IIT Roorkee's listed curriculum does not include per sourced data (selectyouruniversity.com).
Q: How do the two compare on national rankings?
A: IIT Kharagpur ranks #5 on NIRF and 4th of 35 on the India Today Engineering ranking; IIT Roorkee ranks #6 and 5th respectively — a consistent one-spot gap (jeecounselling.in; pw.live).
Q: Is there a meaningful difference in teaching style between the two?
A: Yes — Kharagpur is described as leaning toward general engineering education with industry-based innovation hubs, while Roorkee emphasizes specialized labs and applied research (selectyouruniversity.com).
Q: Is the student-to-faculty ratio available for either institute?
A: No specific ratio is available in sourced data for this comparison, so it isn't reported here.
Q: Is the faculty and academics gap between the two institutes large?
A: No — every sourced metric shows IIT Kharagpur ahead, but only by a narrow margin in each case.
Related
For the complete picture beyond Faculty and Academics -- placements, academics, campus life, and more -- see the full IIT Kharagpur vs IIT Roorkee comparison.