1st-Gen IITs vs. 2nd-Gen IITs: Can Hyderabad and Patna Overtake the Legacy Campuses?
This article breaks down the comparison between 1st-Gen IITs and 2nd-Gen IITs on the basis of NIRF Ranking and scores for various categories and parameters. Evaluation is done on the basis of Engineering and other parameters too. Candidates can find detailed comparison between 2 generations of IITs below.
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NIRF ranking 2026 will be released by the Ministry of Education (MoE) meanwhile in NIRF ranking 2025 under Engineering category the top rankings are taken by 1st-Gen IITs such as Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras with NIRF Ranking 1, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi with NIRF Ranking 2, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai with NIRF Ranking 3 etc, and followed by 2nd-Gen IITs such as IIT Hyderabad with NIRF Ranking 7, IIT Patna with NIRF Ranking 19 etc.
1st-Gen IITs are those institutes which were established between the year 1951 and 2001 and carry the old legacy and academic achievements. 2nd-Gen IITs are those which are built between 2008 and 2012. Candidates can find the comparison between 2 generations with detailed breakdown on engineering ranking alongside IIT Patna multi category surge in recent years.
Check | NIRF 2026: How IIT Madras Maintained its 7-Year Dominance?
1st-Gen IITs vs. 2nd-Gen IITs: Direct Comparison
IIT Madras holds the NIRF Ranking 1 for overall and Engineering category in 2025 for 1st-Gen IITs and on the other hand the IIT Hyderabad holds the NIRF Ranking 12 for overall and 7th in Engineering for 2nd-Gen IITs. Candidates can check the detailed comparison below.
| Cohort | Institution | Est. Year | Overall Rank (2024) | Overall Rank (2025) | Engineering Rank (2024) | Engineering Rank (2025) | Research Rank (2025) | Innovation Rank (2025) |
| 1st-Gen | 1959 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1961 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 1958 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 1959 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | ||
| 1951 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 1847 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | ||
| 1994 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 10 | Outside Top 10 | ||
| 2nd-Gen | 2008 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 6 | |
| 2008 | 73 | 36 | 34 | 19 | 39 | Outside Top 10 | ||
| 2008 | 33 | 27 | 16 | 12 | 24 | Outside Top 10 | ||
| 2008 | 29 | 39 | 18 | 25 | 36 | Outside Top 10 | ||
| 2008 | 48 | 56 | 22 | 32 | 47 | Outside Top 10 | ||
| 2009 | 72 | 58 | 31 | 26 | Outside Top 50 | 10 |
1st-Gen IITs vs. 2nd-Gen IITs: Innovation Category
2nd-Gen IITs have been doing great in the innovation category and have been improving their ranks where IIT Hyderabad secured NIRF Ranking 3 in innovation category in 2024 and NIRF Ranking 6 in 2025. Candidates can check the details below.
| Institution | Establishment Cohort | 2024 Innovation Rank | 2025 Innovation Rank | 2025 Score Details |
| IIT Madras | 1st-Gen | 2 | 1 | FSI: 95.39 | IA: 91.50 | PR: 100.00 |
| IIT Bombay | 1st-Gen | 1 | 2 | FSI: 99.14 | IA: 84.47 | PR: 67.05 |
| IIT Kharagpur | 1st-Gen | 9 | 4 | FSI: 72.57 | IA: 53.99 | PR: 58.67 |
| IIT Kanpur | 1st-Gen | 5 | 5 | FSI: 62.74 | IA: 68.44 | PR: 60.25 |
| IIT Hyderabad | 2nd-Gen | 3 | 6 | FSI: 73.42 | IA: 41.64 | PR: 92.82 |
| IIT Delhi | 1st-Gen | 7 | 7 | Unranked Top 5 details |
| IIT Roorkee | 1st-Gen | 6 | 8 | Unranked Top 5 details |
| IIT Mandi | 2nd-Gen | 8 | 10 | Unranked Top 5 details |
1st-Gen IITs vs. 2nd-Gen IITs: Engineering Parameter Breakdown
2nd-Gen IITs are scoring good scores in Engineering evaluations like IIT Hyderabad and IIT Patna scored 88.02 and 79.24 score in Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR) which is higher than IIT Roorkee. Candidates can check the detailed list below.
| Evaluation Parameter | IIT Roorkee (6) | IIT Hyderabad (7) | IIT Guwahati (8) | IIT (BHU) (10) | IIT Patna (19) |
| Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR) | 76.06 | 88.02 | 73.60 | 66.39 | 79.24 |
| Research & Professional Practice (RP) | 76.57 | 61.39 | 72.89 | 61.68 | 55.04 |
| Graduation Outcome (GO) | 85.82 | 79.20 | 84.68 | 86.03 | 78.4 |
| Outreach and Inclusivity (OI) | 63.92 | 54.39 | 61.40 | 60.51 | 63.95 |
| Perception (PR) | 60.98 | 61.98 | 52.06 | 55.64 | 21.73 |
| Composite Engineering Score | 75.44 | 72.31 | 72.24 | 67.24 | 64.52 |
1st-Gen IITs vs. 2nd-Gen IITs: IIT Patna Breakdown
IIT Patna showed a good jump in Engineering category of NIRF Ranking as its NIRF ranking was 34 in 2024 and in 2025 the ranking was 19 for engineering category showing 15 rank jumps and entering top 20. Candidates can check the details below.
| Metric / Dimension | NIRF 2024 Performance | NIRF 2025 Performance | Absolute Change |
| Engineering Category Rank | 34 | 19 | +15 Ranks (Enters Top 20) |
| Engineering Composite Score | 58.4 | 64.52 | +6.12 Points |
| Overall Category Rank | 73 | 36 | +37 Ranks |
| Research Institutions Rank | Outside Top 50 | 39 | Entered Top 50 Research |
| TLR Score (Engineering) | 71.82 | 79.24 | +7.42 Points |
| RP Score (Engineering) | 48.9 | 55.04 | +6.14 Points |
| Outreach & Inclusivity (OI) | 54.71 | 63.95 | +9.24 Points |
Vikrant Kumar is a Senior Executive – Data & Research, specialising in data-driven content analysis and editorial research. He works with large datasets to identify trends, patterns, insights, and emerging developments across key subjects and converts these findings into clear, engaging, and informative content. His role combines data analysis with editorial storytelling, using tools and research methodologies to support fact-based articles, reports, rankings, and analytical content. He focuses on turning complex data into meaningful insights that can strengthen content quality and help readers understand important trends and developments.
