Comparison: IIT Bombay vs IIT Delhi
When the tongues start wagging, the debate of IIT Bombay vs IIT Delhi ends up in a war-like situation with no concrete conclusion. But irrespective of the loyal students of both IITs, we’ve decided to take things in our own hands, albeit not without the necessary safety precautions in place: the art of subtlety.
Let us get started with some concrete facts to set the tone of the article.
In the latest edition of the QS University Rankings: Asia, 2016, IIT Bombay is ranked 35th in the region, closely followed by IIT Delhi in the 36th place. And in the latest QS University Rankings: BRICS – which compares the top universities in the five fast-developing BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), they appear in 13th and 15th positions respectively.
| Comparison based on the QS University Rankings: BRICS 2016 | ||
| IIT Delhi | IIT Bombay | |
| Academic reputation | 16th | 13th |
| Employer reputation | 7th | 6th |
| Faculty/student ratio | 101+ | 101+ |
| Staff with a PhD | Joint 1st | 47th |
| Papers per faculty | 2nd | 25th |
| Citations per paper | 3rd | 29th |
| International faculty | 101+ | 101+ |
| International students | 101+ | 101+ |
| Overall ranking | 15th | 13th |
No. I am not taking sides. Just plain statistics, folks. Read on for a closer look at how these two top IITs compare, and their current positioning in the country.
The official data of IIT Admissions 2016 implies that in the academic session 2016-17, out of the Top 500 Rankers, over 30 percent opted for IIT Delhi while over 42 percent opted for IIT Bombay as their preferred institute.
Comparative Analysis of IIT Admissions of Top 500 Rankers: 2016 Vs 2015
| S.NO. | Institute | Top 500 Rankers (2016) | Top 500 Rankers (2015) |
| 1. | IIT Bombay | 231 | 142 |
| 2. | IIT Delhi | 151 | 110 |
The share of Top 100 Rankers opting for a seat at IIT Bombay has grown in the following session.
Comparative Analysis of IIT Admissions of Top 100 Rankers: 2016 Vs 2015
| S.NO. | Institute | Top 100 Rankers (2016) | Top 100 Rankers (2015) |
| 1. | IIT Bombay | 67 | 61 |
| 2. | IIT Delhi | 28 | 30 |
Now, let’s review their basic key features and find out the better of the two without any discrimination or favouritism.
Career Prospects & Pay Package
IIT-Bombay was offered a staggering package of Rs 80,000 lakh p.a. by Samsung US/Korea for the academic year 2013-2014. Although the placement coordinators of the college refused to disclose any further details on pay packages, it is rumored that the pay package offered by Samsung US/Korea is more than 30% hike as speculated by the authority of IIT-Bombay. In the year 2012, Microsoft had offered Rs. 52 lakh p.a. to an IIT-Bombay student for its Washington office.
On the other hand, IIT-Delhi received the highest domestic package of Rs 33 lakh from Schlumberger, which in 2012 had offered Rs 30 lakh. The highest package offered to IIT-Delhi was Rs 64.8 lakh p.a. by Epic (US based software company), which is a lot less that the package offered to IIT Bombay students.
Campus & Infrastructure
Located in the heart of the vibrant city, IIT-Delhi’s campus is spread across a sprawling and lush-green area. The entire campus is Wi-Fi enabled and the institute’s library is fully air-conditioned with a huge collection of books. The college also has exclusive fields for cricket, hockey, and football, courts for badminton and squash, and facilities for table tennis and weight lifting. With 13 hostels, IIT-Delhi is equipped with LAN Internet with 2 GB download capability and high-speed DC ++.
On the other hand, IIT-Bombay, the second oldest IIT in India, is located at Powai between the Vihar and Powai lake in Mumbai. With 14 academic departments, six centres, one school, and three interdisciplinary programs, IIT-Bombay is nestled amidst the serene Sanjay Gandhi National Park. IIT-Bombay has a Students’ Activity Centre (SAC) for all types of cultural and extracurricular activities. The campus also has two high schools—Kendriya Vidyalaya and IIT-Campus School. It offers two swimming pools and grounds for football, hockey, and cricket, and courts for tennis, volleyball, basketball, and squash.
Cultural Activities
IT-Bombay is known for its lively atmosphere and cultural activities like dramatics, literary arts, Music, and fine arts. It organises Mood Indigo, the largest cultural festival in Asia, every year in December. The institute also hogs limelight for its Techfest held annually in January. It hosts several business activities like The Entrepreneurship Cell and stream-based festival Radiance (Mechanical Engineering), Zephyr (Aerospace Engineering), Azeotropy (Chemical Engineering), Padarth ( Metallurgy and Material Science Engineering), Aagomani (Electrical Engineering), and Aakaar (Civil Engineering).
IIT-Delhi is also recognized for its several fests throughout the year. The festival extravaganza at IIT-Delhi starts with Speranza, which goes on for three consecutive days. The institute hosts events like Word Games, Complete-the-story, and poem composition. Its Rendezvous is one of the most talked-about sparkling festivals that is organized annually by the administration. It includes events like Street Play, Dance, and Quizzing.
To conclude, multiple factors like broad-based education with a flexible curriculum, recognition globally as a brand, career opportunities, research avenues and industry links are responsible for IIT Bombay’s popularity among students. The institution has retained its position as the most-preferred destination among the top ranking candidates of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced with élan.
So, at the end of this closely matched race, which of these two top IITs would you choose? Or are you headed for another Indian Institute of Technology? Let us know in the comments below…
