Quick Verdict
On faculty size, research ranking, and course breadth, IIT Madras — the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) network's top-ranked campus, located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu — comes out ahead of IIT Guwahati, its Assam-based counterpart, on the numbers that are actually available. IIT Guwahati still holds its own on student-rated program quality for Computer Science Engineering, where the gap between the two is small.
Snapshot
| Feature | IIT Madras | IIT Guwahati |
|---|---|---|
| NIRF Ranking | #1, per jeecounselling.in | #8, per jeecounselling.in |
| Faculty Count | 600+, per jeecounselling.in (a historical institute-wide table separately lists 674, per Wikipedia) | 350+, per jeecounselling.in (539, per the same Wikipedia table) |
| Courses Offered | 132+, per jeecounselling.in | 82+, per jeecounselling.in |
| Student Rating: B.Tech CSE | 8.86/10, based on 29 student reviews, per Collegedunia | 8.47/10, based on 32 student reviews, per Collegedunia |
| Overall Rating | 4.4/5, per jeecounselling.in | 4.3/5, per jeecounselling.in |
| JEE Advanced Closing Rank (Open, 2026) | 11,166, up from 9,555 in 2025 — an increase of 1,611 | 10,732, up from 9,243 in 2025 — an increase of 1,489 |
(JEE Advanced is India's national engineering entrance exam for undergraduate IIT admission; closing-rank figures per [Careers360](https://engineering.careers360.com/articles/josaa-2026-round-2-cut-off-comparison-admission-these-iits-becomes-less-competitive).)
Detailed Analysis
On paper, IIT Madras has the larger faculty base — 600+ per one comparison source (jeecounselling.in), or 674 per a separate historical institute-wide table (Wikipedia) — against IIT Guwahati's 350+ (or 539, same sources respectively). The two sources don't match exactly, likely because they were compiled in different years, but both agree IIT Madras fields meaningfully more faculty than IIT Guwahati. IIT Madras also offers more courses (132+ versus 82+, per jeecounselling.in) and holds the #1 spot in NIRF's 2025 rankings among IITs, versus #8 for IIT Guwahati (same source).
Despite that gap, student perception of the flagship Computer Science Engineering program is close: IIT Madras's B.Tech CSE is rated 8.86 out of 10 by 29 reviewers, while IIT Guwahati's is rated 8.47 out of 10 by 32 reviewers (Collegedunia) — a gap of under half a point on a 10-point scale, suggesting that on the ground, students at both institutes rate their core CS academics similarly highly, even though the institutes differ more sharply on faculty count and overall ranking.
Admission competitiveness tells a similar "both moving together" story: between the 2025 and 2026 JoSAA counselling rounds, IIT Madras's open-category closing rank rose from 9,555 to 11,166 (an increase of 1,611), while IIT Guwahati's rose from 9,243 to 10,732 (an increase of 1,489) — meaning both institutes became slightly less competitive to get into year-over-year, at a broadly similar pace (Careers360). IIT Madras also added a new BS in Mathematics course in the 2026 admission cycle, per the same source, reflecting continued curriculum expansion.
One separate source classifies both IIT Madras and IIT Guwahati as "1st Generation" (old) IITs, a group generally described as having "experienced and sufficient" faculty compared to newer, still-developing IITs (Cracku.in). That same source cites IIT Madras's median package as ranging from ₹16 to ₹18 LPA (lakhs per annum); the equivalent figure for IIT Guwahati was not captured in the researched facts, so it isn't reported here rather than guessed at.
Verdict
Winner: IIT Madras — it has the edge in NIRF rank, faculty count, and course breadth across every source checked. The one condition under which IIT Guwahati is the better pick on academics specifically: if your priority is CSE program quality as rated by current/former students, where the two institutes are separated by less than half a point on a 10-point scale — a difference small enough that other factors (location, cost, campus fit) may matter more than this specific gap.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Which IIT has more faculty, Madras or Guwahati?
IIT Madras, with 600+ (or 674 per a separate count) versus IIT Guwahati's 350+ (or 539) — sources vary slightly but agree on the direction (jeecounselling.in; Wikipedia).
Q: Is IIT Madras's Computer Science program rated much higher than IIT Guwahati's?
Not by much — 8.86/10 versus 8.47/10 in student reviews, a gap of well under half a point (Collegedunia).
Q: How many courses does each institute offer?
IIT Madras offers 132+ courses; IIT Guwahati offers 82+, per jeecounselling.in.
Q: Which institute is harder to get into?
Both became slightly easier to enter between 2025 and 2026 JoSAA counselling, but IIT Madras's closing rank still sits lower (11,166 vs 10,732 in 2026), meaning it remains marginally more competitive (Careers360).
Q: Are IIT Madras and IIT Guwahati both considered "old" IITs?
Yes — both are classified as 1st-generation IITs, generally associated with more experienced faculty than newer-generation IITs (Cracku.in).
Q: What is IIT Madras's median salary package?
Around ₹16 to ₹18 LPA, per Cracku.in. No equivalent figure for IIT Guwahati was found in the researched facts.
Q: Did either institute add new courses recently?
IIT Madras added a BS in Mathematics for the 2026 admission cycle, per Careers360. No equivalent new-course addition for IIT Guwahati was found in the researched facts.
Q: What is IIT Madras's overall NIRF rank versus IIT Guwahati's?
#1 versus #8 among IITs in 2025, per jeecounselling.in.
Related
For the complete picture beyond Faculty and Academics — placements, academics, campus life, and more — see the full IIT Madras vs IIT Guwahati comparison.