IIT Kanpur closed Phase 1 of its 2025–26 placement season with 1,202 offers, 1,079 accepted, and 15 international offers from 250+ companies — its highest Phase 1 tally to date. Day 1 alone delivered 672 offers, a 16% jump over last year's Day 1 and a record for the Students' Placement Office (SPO). The Phase 2 / final report has not been released yet (as of June 2026), and crucially, no official salary aggregates for 2025–26 have been published. Everything below is sourced from IIT Kanpur's own press releases plus NIRF 2026 (which covers the previous, 2024–25 cycle).
What does IIT Kanpur's 2025–26 placement season look like so far?
The Phase 1 window ran from 1 December 2025 to roughly mid-December, ending with the SPO's official summary on 26 December. Two numbers matter most: the total 1,202 offers (1,079 accepted) at the end of Phase 1, and the record Day 1 of 672 offers. Both come from the institute's own press office — not aggregator copy. Phase 2 (typically mid-January through April) will add to these figures and the final, comprehensive report usually drops around July or with the next NIRF submission.
IIT Kanpur 2025–26 — Phase 1 official numbers
| Metric | Phase 1 (1–15 Dec 2025) | Day 1 only (1 Dec 2025) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total offers | 1,202 | 672 (record) | IIT Kanpur SPO, 26 Dec 2025 |
| Offers accepted (incl. PPOs) | 1,079 | 627 students placed | IIT Kanpur SPO, 3 Dec 2025 |
| PPOs (pre-placement offers) | — | 253 (Day 1, +27% YoY) | IIT Kanpur SPO Day 1 release |
| International offers | 15 (Europe, Japan, Korea, US) | 9 | IIT Kanpur SPO Phase 1 release |
| Companies participating | 250+ | — | IIT Kanpur SPO Phase 1 release |
How does 2025–26 compare to last year?
Both numbers grew, but international offers actually shrank in Phase 1. The SPO says it expects more international hiring in Phase 2 — that's the bit to watch.
| Metric (Phase 1) | 2024–25 | 2025–26 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total offers | 1,109 | 1,202 | +8% |
| Day 1 offers | 579 | 672 | +16% |
| International (Phase 1) | 28 | 15 | –46% |
| Companies (Phase 1) | 250+ | 250+ | flat |
Source: IIT Kanpur SPO press releases for 2024–25 (campus-placements-2024) and 2025–26 (phase-i-placements-for-2025-26-batch).
What is the highest package at IIT Kanpur in 2026?
IIT Kanpur has not officially released any 2025–26 salary figure — no highest, no median, no average. Several aggregator sites quote a "Phase 1 average of ₹26.27 LPA" for 2025–26, but that figure actually corresponds to the previous (2024–25) cycle and appears in third-party rollups, not the SPO's own release. Treat any 2025–26 salary number circulating right now as unofficial until the final report drops.
What we can cite is NIRF 2026, which covers the just-completed 2024–25 season (batch of 2025). That's the most reliable, comparable, officially-sourced baseline for what an IIT Kanpur graduate actually signed last year.
IIT Kanpur — NIRF 2026 (2024–25 placement year)
| Programme | Students placed | Median CTC | YoY change (vs NIRF 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| UG 4-year (B.Tech) | 855 | ₹21.70 LPA | up from ₹19.40 LPA (+11.9%) |
| PG 2-year (M.Tech / MS) | 674 | ₹15.70 LPA | up from ₹15.11 LPA (+3.9%) |
Source: NIRF 2026 submission by IIT Kanpur, nirfindia.org. NIRF data lags one cycle — NIRF 2026 reports 2024–25 outcomes, NIRF 2027 will report 2025–26.
Who is hiring at IIT Kanpur this season?
The SPO's Phase 1 release names this set of recruiters explicitly — a useful signal of which companies are still active on campus despite the broader hiring slowdown elsewhere in Indian tech.
Top recruiters at IIT Kanpur 2025–26 (Phase 1, named by SPO)
- Tech & engineering: Accenture, Airbus, Boeing, Databricks, Qualcomm, Samsung, InMobi
- Finance & consulting: American Express, BlackRock, Deutsche Bank, ICICI Bank, Mastercard, PwC, Square Point Capital
- Consumer internet: Meesho, Navi
- PSUs: BPCL, BEL, MIDHANI, EIL
Source: IIT Kanpur Phase 1 press release, 26 December 2025.
Why are the numbers you see on Google contradictory?
Three reasons, all worth knowing if you're using placement figures to make a decision:
- Offers vs students placed. The 1,202 figure counts every offer made, including students who accumulated 2 or 3 offers and PPOs that were later converted. The unique-student count is lower: 1,079 accepted. Aggregators often quote the bigger number without the caveat.
- Phase vs final. 1,202 is Phase 1 only. Phase 2 traditionally adds another 200–400 offers. So the season-end number for 2025–26 will be higher — but it isn't out yet.
- Cycle mislabelling. A lot of "2026" pages on Google are 2024–25 data re-labelled. The "Phase 1 average ₹26.27 LPA" figure is one example. NIRF 2026 = 2024–25 data, not 2025–26.
What about Phase 2 and the season-end final?
Phase 2 was scheduled to commence in mid-January 2026 per the SPO release. Historically Phase 2 adds another tranche of offers (often 200–500) and most of the additional international placements show up here. The complete season-end report — with median, average and sector split — typically appears with the NIRF submission cycle (so NIRF 2027 will carry the 2025–26 final). If anything official drops sooner, we'll update this page with a dated entry.
How do you actually prepare for IIT Kanpur placements?
The honest answer from people who went through Phase 1 is that the prep window starts in summer of the pre-final year — the summer intern conversion path produces the bulk of PPOs (253 on Day 1 alone, +27% YoY in 2025–26). If you treat the intern as a 10-week interview, you skip the 1–15 December scramble entirely. We covered the year-by-year roadmap in detail in how to prepare for IIT placements — it pairs with this page.
What IIT Kanpur students are actually saying
From r/JEENEETards (June 2026), a student who broke down IIT Kanpur's placements alongside cutoffs:
"Median package is sitting around 15–16 LPA (institute-level NIRF data, no coaching center cap of ₹1.4 Cr fantasy packages). Placement rate is solid. Not Bombay-level flex, but consistent and reliable."
That tracks with the NIRF 2026 number (₹21.70 LPA UG-4yr median — institute-wide; the student's "15–16" likely reflects a non-circuital branch average). The bigger takeaway is the framing: students themselves push back against the inflated coaching-centre highest-package narrative. The real Kanpur story is steady median + record offer volume, not crore-headlines.
Frequently asked questions
Has IIT Kanpur 2025–26 placement been completed?
Not yet. Phase 1 ended 26 December 2025 with 1,202 offers. Phase 2 began mid-January 2026 and the final report has not been published as of June 2026.
What is the highest package at IIT Kanpur 2025–26?
Not officially disclosed. IIT Kanpur's SPO has released only Phase 1 offer counts and recruiter names, no salary aggregates. Any single-figure highest you see online is unofficial.
What is the median package at IIT Kanpur?
The most recent official figure is ₹21.70 LPA for B.Tech (UG 4-year) from NIRF 2026, covering the 2024–25 season. For PG 2-year programmes, the median is ₹15.70 LPA.
How many international offers did IIT Kanpur get in 2025–26?
15 in Phase 1, from companies in Europe, Japan, Korea and the United States. The SPO expects more in Phase 2 — for context, Phase 1 of 2024–25 had 28 international offers.
What is a PPO and how many did IIT Kanpur get?
A pre-placement offer is a full-time job offer made directly off a summer internship, bypassing the Phase 1 scramble. IIT Kanpur reported 253 PPOs by Day 1 of 2025–26, up 27% year-on-year. PPO conversion is the single most reliable path to a top offer.
Sources: IIT Kanpur Students' Placement Office press releases (Day 1, Phase 1 conclude, 2024–25 comparison), NIRF 2026 institute submission (nirfindia.org). Hero image: Ravi Dwivedi via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated: 19 June 2026.