Top 20
Top 20 NITs in India: Advanced Education in Science And Tech
The top-ranking National Institutes of Technology or NITs in India provide advanced learning in the field of technology, engineering, science etc., to students. These institutes are often, also regarded as universities, perhaps for the sake of understanding and the purpose they deliver.
NIT and IIT – What’s the Difference?
There is little difference between the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs). Thus, in a nutshell, it can be said that while an IIT can be thought of as a “high school”, an NIT can be thought of as a college or university for higher studies in similar fields.
IITs are governed by the Institutes of Technology Act, of 1961, and are declared as Institutes of National Importance (INI). Each IIT in India is granted autonomous status and linked to the others through a common council known as the IIT Council which is administered by the Ministry of Education, Government of India. The exams conducted for taking admission at an IIT are JEE (Main and Advanced), CAT and GATE, which are among the toughest exams conducted in India.
NITs, on the other hand, are governed by the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research Act, 2007, and are also declared as Institutions of National Importance (INI) by the Government of India. Each NIT is granted autonomous status and is linked to the others through a common council known as the Council of NITSER, the highest decision-making body administered by the Ministry of Education, Government of India. The exams conducted for taking admission at an NIT are JEE, JAT, DASA (for NRI students), CAT, GATE, NIMCET etc.
In addition, NITs have the authority to devise their own curriculum. Such institutions are established to deliver advanced learning opportunities to students, and for that, these institutes, or colleges, are present in almost every state in India. The admission cut-off marks and percentile are usually released by the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) under the Ministry of Education and on behalf of the colleges that participate in the counselling process.
NIT offers undergraduate (UG), post-graduate (PG), dual degree and doctoral (PhD) programmes in various disciplines, which include Technology, Science, Architecture, Computer Application, Business Administration etc. Students can also opt for other fields as well, for example, Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Communication Engineering, and more.
Also, read these articles:
Top 20 Engineering Colleges in India [link to article]
Top 20 Private Engineering Colleges in India [link to article]
Top 20 IT Companies in India [link to article]
Let us now take a look at some of the best NITs to study in India.
List of 20 Best National Institutes of Technology (NITs) in India
The following list (sorted in alphabetical order) includes names of the twenty best NITs located across India for pursuing higher education in various undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degree programmes.
Note: To know more about the admission, cut-off marks, courses, fees, faculty, facilities, career opportunities etc., we advise our readers to visit the website of the respective institute via the links provided in this article.
1. NIT Agartala
City: Agartala, Tripura
Affiliations: MHRD Approved
Website: https://www.nita.ac.in/
NIT Agartala started as Tripura Engineering College in 1965 with affiliations to the Calcutta University board and offered degree courses in Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. In 2006, the engineering college was renamed NIT Agartala, or NITA, and is affiliated with Tripura University and MHRD. The institute also started introducing more degree courses into its programmes.
The institute has departments in Engineering, Sciences, Management, Humanities & Social Sciences. It offers undergraduate (B.Tech), post-graduate (M.Tech), Dual Degree (B.Tech + M.Tech) and doctoral degree programmes in various disciplines to the students.
NIT Agartala also provides on-campus hostel facilities to the students.
2. NIT Allahabad
City: Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh
Affiliations: AICTE Approved
Website: http://www.mnnit.ac.in/
NIT Allahabad is now known by the name Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad (MNNIT Allahabad) and is situated in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The institute was formed in the year 1961. It is named after Motilal Nehru, who was a lawyer and freedom fighter, and the father of Jawaharlal Nehru, post-independence India’s first Prime Minister.
MNNIT Allahabad was previously called Motilal Nehru Regional Engineering College (MNREC) which provided courses to students in Electrical Engineering. It was renamed in 2002. NIT Allahabad is recognised by AICTE and is among the few technical institutions in India to house two supercomputers, PARAM 8000 and PARAM 10000.
MNNIT Allahabad offers a four-year undergraduate course in various Engineering and Computer Science disciplines, 19 post-graduate programmes of two-year duration leading to M.Tech degrees, and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and in many Engineering disciplines as well.
3. NIT Bhopal
City: Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Affiliations: MHRD Approved
Website: http://www.manit.ac.in/
NIT Bhopal is better known as Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology Bhopal (MANIT) in India. Situated in the state of Madhya Pradesh and established in the year 1960, NIT Bhopal is among the best engineering and technology institutes for students seeking admissions in undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degree programmes.
The institute is named after Abdul Kalam Azad, in short also known as Maulana Azad, who was an activist and post-independent India’s first Minister of Education. During its initial years of establishment, it was called Maulana Azad College of Technology (MACT) until 2002 when it was renamed to what is called today.
NIT Bhopal offers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degree programmes mainly in the fields of Engineering, Science, Technology, Architecture and Management. It offers five-year degree programmes in Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Architecture, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering; and three-year post-graduate degree programmes in Computer Applications, Information Technology, and more.
4. NIT Calicut
City: Kozhikode, Kerala
Affiliations: AICTE, UGC Approved
Website: http://www.nitc.ac.in/
NIT Calicut, or NITC, was previously known as Calicut Regional Engineering College (CREC) and is affiliated with Kerala University. It was renamed in the year 2002. NIT Calicut is located in Kozhikode, Kerala and was established in 1961.
NITC currently consist of eleven academic departments, eight centres departments, eight centres and three schools, respectively. The institute offers undergraduate courses which include a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in various engineering fields and Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch); and post-graduate courses in Master of Technology (M.Tech), Master of Computer Application (MCA), Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a two-year Master of Science (M.Sc.) course. It also offers PhD programmes which are available in all Engineering and Science disciplines and management.
NIT Calicut is known to house a supercomputer on its campus, and also has a dedicated department for Nanotechnology studies. In addition, NITC has also set up the Technology Business Incubator (TBI) to help the development of start-up ventures in electronics and IT.
5. NIT Durgapur
City: Durgapur, West Bengal
Affiliations: AICTE, UGC, MoE, Washington Accord Approved
Website: http://www.nitdgp.ac.in/
NIT Durgapur situated in West Bengal is one of India’s oldest public technical universities established in the year 1960. It was previously known as Regional Engineering College, Durgapur (REC Durgapur).
NIT Durgapur consists of a total of 14 academic departments, each offering undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate programmes in various disciplines to the students. The institute’s Department of Management Studies (DoMS) offers a Master of Business Administration programme with a specialisation in Marketing, Finance, Business Analytics, IT Consulting, Human Resources, and Operations.
for Engineering, Sciences, Computer Applications, Environmental Studies, Humanities and Management etc.
6. NIT Hamirpur
City: Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh
Affiliations: MHRD Approved
Website: http://www.nith.ac.in/
NIT Hamirpur was started in 1986 as a Regional Engineering College in Hamirpur city of Himachal Pradesh. At that time, it offered degree courses in three departments, namely Civil Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. REC Hamirpur was converted into NIT Hamirpur in 2002 and it is affiliated with the Ministry of Human Resource Development department under the Government of India.
At present, the institute offers a selection of undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate degree programmes in various fields, such as Electronics and Communication Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Architecture, Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Pure Sciences and Humanities etc.
NIT Hamirpur also provides hostels to students. Its hostels for boys and girls are plenty and named after regions in Himachal Pradesh.
7. NIT Jaipur
City: Jaipur, Rajasthan
Affiliations: MHRD Approved
Website: http://www.mnit.ac.in/
NIT Jaipur is also known as Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur (MNIT). It was previously called Malaviya Regional Engineering College (MREC) Jaipur founded in the year 1963. The institute is given the status of Institute of National Importance (INI) and it is wholly funded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) under the Government of India.
While NIT Jaipur offers several programmes in the field of Engineering, Sciences, Management, Design, and Humanities, it has a primary focus on the field of Engineering. The institute offers eight four-year undergraduate degree courses for B.Tech and a five-year course for B.Arch. Its post-graduate degree programmes include M.Tech, M.Sc, MBA and Master of Urban Planning. There are also doctoral programmes available at the institute.
NIT Jaipur follows the credit-based system of performance evaluation, with the proportional weighting of courses based on their importance.
8. NIT Jalandhar
City: Jalandhar, Punjab
Affiliations: MHRD Approved
Website: http://www.nitj.ac.in/
NIT Jalandhar is also known as Dr. B. R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology Jalandhar. It is located in Jalandhar city in the state of Punjab. The institute is named after Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, who is known for having drafted the Constitution of India and as well as for his anti-Dalit movement.
NIT Jalandhar, which was established in 1987 as Regional Engineering College, was converted into a National Institute of Technology in 2002 and was given the status of National Institute of Technology (Deemed University) by the Government of India. The institute has a total of fifteen academic departments. These departments offer a selection of courses for undergraduate and post-graduate degree programmes as well as degree programmes that are inclined towards doctoral and research studies.
NIT Jalandhar also provides hostels to the students, faculty and staff, and its campus offers well-equipped amenities, from learning to extra-curricular activities.
9. NIT Jamshedpur
City: Jamshedpur, Jharkhand
Affiliations: MHRD Approved
Website: http://www.nitjsr.ac.in/
NIT Jamshedpur located in the state of Jharkhand (separated from Bihar), is one of India’s best National Institutes of Technology. The institute was started in 1960 as Regional Engineering College (REC), and a few years later in 2002, it was converted into NIT and also, it was given the status of Deemed University having affiliations with MHRD.
NIT Jamshedpur offers various courses for undergraduate, post-graduate, doctoral and research programmes. The institute offers a PhD degrees in various disciplines. Admission to undergraduate courses of Btech is granted through JEE-Main Entrance Examination, which is the pre-requisite for admission in all NITs.
10. NIT Karnataka
City: Mangaluru, Karnataka
Affiliations: AICTE, UGC Approved
Website: http://www.nitk.ac.in/
NIT Karnataka, often called interchangeably as NIT Surathkal, was established in the year 1960 and was known as Karnataka Regional Engineering College (KREC) before being renamed. The institute is located in the Surathkal district of Mangaluru city, in the state of Karnataka. Karnataka is already known for housing several institutions and companies for technology and engineering. NIT Karnataka is among the best institutes in India.
NIT Karnataka or NIT Surathkal offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in Engineering, Science and Management. The institute has a total of 14 departments and 11 support centres. There are also research programmes that are offered to research scholars. The research centre in the institute is mainly sponsored by central and state government agencies with grants.
Admissions for undergraduate programmes are based on the JEE (Joint Entrance Exam) scores, while post-graduate students are admitted to the programmes through the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE), which is conducted by the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institute of Science.
11. NIT Kurukshetra
City: Kurukshetra, Haryana
Affiliations: MHRD Approved
Website: http://www.nitkkr.ac.in/
NIT Kurukshetra is situated in the historical region of Kurukshetra (a region named after the ancient Indian King Kuru c. 1200 – 900 BCE) in Haryana. The institute was established here in the year 1963 and was then called Regional Engineering College Kurukshetra until 2002 when it was converted into the National Institute of Technology and given the status of Institute of National Importance (INI) and Deemed University by the Government of India.
NIT Kurukshetra mainly offers undergraduate (B.Tech) and post-graduate (M.Tech) degree programmes in the department of Engineering, and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes in Engineering, Computer Applications, Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences. It also offers MBA programmes.
The institute also provides hostels to the students which are named after regions, rivers and persons of ancient India.
12. NIT Patna
City: Patna, Bihar
Affiliations: MHRD Approved
Website: http://www.nitp.ac.in/
NIT Patna situated in the state of Bihar was previously called Bihar College of Engineering. It is one of the oldest colleges in India founded in the year 1886. The institute was converted into NIT in 2004. At present, NIT Patna is granted an autonomous institute and is affiliated with MHRD under the Government of India.
The institute includes the Department of Architecture & Planning and Engineering. Its engineering department consists of Civil Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. In addition to this, there is an Architecture department and Departments for Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Social Sciences, and Humanities, respectively.
13. NIT Raipur
City: Raipur, Chhattisgarh
Affiliations: AICTE, UGC, MoE, Washington Accord Approved
Website: http://www.nitrr.ac.in/
NIT Raipur is situated in the newly-formed Indian state of Chhattisgarh. It was established in the year 1956 in the then-undivided Bihar (now separated into Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh states). The institute mainly focuses on courses that are offered in the departments of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Architecture. At present, the institute offers graduate-level courses in twelve disciplines.
It offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes to students. Its B.Tech degree programme is of four years, the Bachelor of Architecture programme is of five years, while its MCA programme is of three years and M.Tech is of 2 years, respectively. It also has a comprehensive graduate programme offering doctoral degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
NIT Raipur also provides residential hostels to its students.
14. NIT Rourkela
City: Rourkela, Odisha
Affiliations: AICTE, UGC, MHRD Approved
Website: http://www.nitrkl.ac.in/
NIT Rourkela situated in the state of Odisha, is one of the best institutes of higher learning for Engineering, Science and Technology in India. It was previously known as Regional Engineering College Rourkela (REC Rourkela) when it was established in the year 1961. The institute is managed by a Board of Governors (BoG) created as per NIT Act, 2007.
The institute has different departments, centres and technical service units (TSUs). There are a total of twenty departments which offer degree programmes for B.Tech, B.Arch, and B.Tech-M.Tech Dual, M.Tech, M.Sc, Integrated M.Sc, MBA and PhD.
Its dual degree courses in various disciplines were introduced recently. The institute provides opportunities for part-time graduate studies in selected fields in addition to doctoral research in various subjects. The institute has three academic centres and six service centres. NIT Rourkela also provides residential accommodation to the students, faculty and staff.
15. NIT Silchar
City: Silchar, Assam
Affiliations: AICTE, UGC, MHRD Approved
Website: http://www.nits.ac.in/
NIT Silchar was founded in the year 1967 and was then, known as Regional Engineering College Silchar (REC Silchar) before it was upgraded to the status of National Institute of Technology. The institute is situated in the state of Assam.
NIT Silchar offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in the field of Engineering, Science, Humanities and Management with a total of 11 departments. The institute awards B.Tech degrees in all of its six disciplines under the Engineering departments. For the post-graduate programmes, it offers M.Tech and M.Sc degrees in various disciplines and also offers MBA degrees in Human Resources, Marketing and Finance.
In the four-year programme of B.Tech, the first-year instruction is common across all disciplines. Here, students are taught the basic courses in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Professional Communication, Basics of Computer Programming, Basic Engineering Drawing, and Basic Mechanical Workshop.
16. NIT Srinagar
City: Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir
Affiliations: AICTE, UGC, MoE Approved
Website: http://nitsri.ac.in/
NIT Srinagar is situated in India’s heavenly state of Jammu & Kashmir (leaving aside the ongoing geo-political and violent disputes in the region). The institute which was founded in the year 1960 is governed by the Ministry of Education (MoE) under the Government of India. During its initial years, the institute was called the Regional Engineering College before being converted into NIT and given the status of Institute of National Importance (INI) as well as Deemed University.
The institute has a total of twelve academic departments offering degree-level courses in Engineering, Applied Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences programmes. Of these, the university includes eight engineering departments for Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, and Information Technology. It also has four Physical Sciences departments for Physics, Chemistry, Humanities and Mathematics.
NIT Srinagar also provides hostel facilities to its regional and distant students.
17. NIT Surat
City: Surat, Gujarat
Affiliations: AICTE, UGC, MoE Approved
Website: http://www.svnit.ac.in/
NIT Surat is known by the name Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat. The institute is situated in Surat, Gujarat, and in 2002, it was renamed after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was a barrister and the first Home Minister of post-independence India. It was founded in 1961 and is given the status of Institute of National Importance (INI) and Deemed University.
The institute offers undergraduate (B.Tech, post-graduate (M.Tech) and doctoral degree programmes to students in different departments. It follows the credit-based system of performance evaluation, with a proportional weighting of courses based on their importance.
18. NIT Tiruchirappalli
City: Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu
Affiliations: AICTE, UGC, MoE Approved
Website: http://www.nitt.edu/
NIT Tiruchirappalli, also popularly called NIT Trichy, is one of the best NITs in India that focuses exclusively on the Engineering, Management, Science, Technology and Architecture departments of learning. The institute was known by the name Regional Engineering College Tiruchirappalli until 2003 when it was renamed to NIT Tiruchirappalli (or NIT Trichy). It is situated in the state of Tamil Nadu.
In total, NIT Trichy offers 10 undergraduate, 40 post-graduate and 17 doctoral degree programmes through its 17 academic departments. Its Department of Management Studies (DoMS) is one of the oldest business schools in India offering MBA programmes to students. The programme is offered as a Dual specialisation in the fields of Marketing, Finance, Business Analytics and IT Consulting, Human Resources and Operations.
The B.Tech and B.Arch degree programmes are of four and five years, respectively. The post-graduate degree programmes include M.Tech, M.Arch, M.S., M.A., MCA and MBA.
19. NIT Warangal
City: Warangal, Telangana
Affiliations: AICTE, UGC Approved
Website: https://nitw.ac.in/main/
NIT Warangal is situated in Warangla city, Telangana. The institute was earlier called Regional Engineering College Warangal (REC Warangal) when it was established in 1959, and it was the first to be established among the chain of 15 Regional Engineering Colleges in India.
NIT Warangal began offering Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering programmes for undergraduate and postgraduate degree levels. Later, the institute started offering more programmes that included Chemical Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Biotechnology, Computer Science and Engineering for B.Tech and M.Tech. It also offers an MBA programme.
20. Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology Nagpur (VNIT Nagpur)
City: Nagpur, Maharashtra
Affiliations: UGC Approved
Website: http://www.vnit.ac.in/
VNIT Nagpur situated in the state of Maharashtra is a nickname for Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology Nagpur (VNIT). It is named in memory of Sir M. Visvesvaraya, a prominent Indian civil engineer whose birthday i.e., 15th September, is celebrated as Engineer’s Day not only in India but in Sri Lanka and Tanzania as well. The institute was established in 1960 as Visvesvaraya Regional College of Engineering (VRCE) before being renamed.
VNIT Nagpur has several academic departments that offer undergraduate, post-graduate, doctoral and research programmes to the students. The institute also has more than 30 specialised laboratories and research centres. Its undergraduate programmes include B.Arch and B.Tech. Also, its M.Arch, M.Sc, M.Tech and PhD degree programmes are offered by the institution’s Architecture department.
It awards undergraduate, post-graduate and Doctoral degrees in Engineering, Technology, Architecture and Science programmes. Admission at the institute is granted is through examinations like JEE (Main), GATE, JAM, CSIR-UGC NET, etc.
Wrapping Up
The top-ranking NITs in India listed above offer a variety of courses in different departments, be it in technology, engineering, sciences or business management etc.
There are currently, a total of 31 NITs located throughout different states in India, where each of these institutions provides its student’s degree, doctoral and research courses in prominent fields for advanced learning.
