The typical IIT B.Tech graduate signed for a median package of roughly ₹17–21 lakh per annum in 2024–25 — not the ₹1-crore-plus figures that trend every December. Those headline numbers are real, but each is a single outlier offer, usually international and usually to one computer-science student. The 2025–26 season — the batch graduating in 2026 — is still in progress, so the most recent complete figures are from the 2024–25 season, used throughout as the benchmark for 2026 aspirants. Below is the actual placement data for 19 of the 23 IITs — highest, median, and the share of students who were actually placed — every figure sourced, including the numbers most sites won't show you.
What is the real IIT placement package?
The honest answer is the median, and it sits far below the billboards. IIT Madras advertised a ₹4.3 crore highest package in 2024–25 — yet its B.Tech median was ₹19.13 lakh (Careers360). That is a ~22× gap. The ₹4.3 crore went to one computer-science student with a Jane Street offer; it tells you nothing about a typical graduate. Across the top IITs, the real "typical" package clusters tightly at ₹17–21 LPA, whichever institute's marketing you read.
The package that trends on X is never the package you sign. Plan for the median, not the headline.
Placement data for every IIT (2024–25)
Packages are in ₹ LPA unless marked crore (Cr). Highest figures are individual outlier offers; the median column is the honest typical outcome. Sources are linked per row.
| IIT | Highest | Median (B.Tech) | % Placed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bombay | ₹2.2 Cr (intl) | ₹17.9 L | ~75% | CollegeDekho |
| Delhi | ₹51.3 L | ₹20.0 L | ~96% | CollegeDunia |
| Madras | ₹4.3 Cr | ₹19.1 L | 80%+ | Careers360 |
| Kanpur | ₹1.9 Cr | ₹21.7 L | ~85% | CollegeDekho |
| Kharagpur | ₹2.14 Cr | ₹19.8 L | 90%+ | Careers360 |
| Roorkee | ₹2.05 Cr (intl) | ₹19.1 L | 61% | CollegeDunia |
| Guwahati | ₹1.25 Cr | ₹20.4 L | 62% | CollegeDunia |
| Hyderabad | ₹90 L | ₹21.0 L | 71% (UG) | CollegeDunia |
| (BHU) Varanasi | ₹2.2 Cr | ₹20.0 L | ~60% | Careers360 (RTI) |
| Indore | ₹1.37 Cr | ₹19.5 L | 85% | PaGaLGuY |
| Jodhpur | ₹56 L (CSE) | — | 92% | Shiksha |
| Gandhinagar | — | ₹19.3 L (avg) | ~60% | Careers360 (RTI) |
Not yet reliably reported for 2024–25: IIT Dhanbad (full), Palakkad, Goa, Bhilai and Jammu — the youngest IITs disclose the least, and only rough ₹10–16 LPA average aggregates exist.
Is the "90% placed" claim a myth?
In the soft 2024–25 market, largely yes. RTI replies obtained by Careers360 show ~40% of students were unplaced at IIT (BHU) and IIT Gandhinagar, and IIT Tirupati had 46% unplaced mid-cycle (Careers360 RTI). Even Roorkee (61%), Guwahati (62%) and Hyderabad (71% UG) sat well below the near-100% image IITs project. Only Delhi (~96% B.Tech) and Jodhpur (92%) held up strongly. Tellingly, the institutes with the lowest rates are the ones whose numbers only surfaced via RTI, not press release.
Why does branch matter more than the IIT name?
Within a single IIT, CSE medians run 2–3× the core-engineering medians. IIT Madras' CSE median is around ₹46 LPA; its Mechanical and Civil medians sit near ₹15–17 LPA — same campus, same degree, wildly different outcomes. The crore-plus club is almost entirely CS plus quantitative-trading firms (Jane Street, Optiver, Da Vinci, Databricks). For a core-branch student, even a top-5 IIT delivers a fundamentally lower distribution than a CSE student at a newer IIT. Pick your branch with this in mind, not just the institute's rank.
What do IITians actually say about placements?
The gap between marketed averages and reality is a constant topic in student communities like r/JEE, r/Indian_Academia and r/btechtards, where current students post candidly about offer counts, ghosted pre-placement offers, and core-branch struggles that official brochures smooth over. Live threads like "IIT KGP Placement Stats 2025-26" and a branch-by-branch placement breakdown on r/Btechtards show students dissecting the actual phase-wise numbers. Their accounts line up with the RTI data above: the median is real; the "everyone gets a crore" narrative is not.
How to read these numbers (methodology)
- "Highest package" is one outlier — usually international, usually CS/quant, often including relocation and stock. Treat it as marketing, not a statistic.
- Median beats average for honesty. A few crore-plus offers drag the average up; the median is the typical graduate's outcome.
- Denominators differ. Some institutes report the percentage of students who registered for placements (which inflates it); others use the full graduating batch.
- Official figures beat aggregators. Prefer NIRF medians and institute brochures; aggregator summary boxes sometimes render garbled or mixed-season numbers.
Last updated: June 2026. Figures are for the 2024–25 placement season (the latest fully reported), with 2025–26 partials where noted. We refresh this page each placement cycle.