IIT Seats Increase in JoSAA 2026

The 23 IITs added a net 666 new seats, bringing their total to 18,826. When IISc Bangalore's 125 seats (joining JoSAA for the first time) are included, the combined IIT+IISc count is 18,951 — an increase of 791 over 2025's 18,160.

IIT Jodhpur recorded the highest single-IIT increase with +140 seats (610 → 750). IIT Mandi is second with +120 seats (520 → 640). IIT Indore and IIT Palakkad each added 80 seats, while IIT Hyderabad and IIT Jammu added 75 seats each.

Yes. IIT Dharwad saw a reduction of 30 seats and IIT Madras a reduction of 3 seats. These reductions are minor and likely reflect programme restructuring. The net increase across all 23 IITs is still a positive 666 seats.

Newer IITs (established post-2008) are still in their growth phase — building faculty, infrastructure, and adding new departments. Older IITs like IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi are largely at capacity and expand more selectively. Hence, most seat additions come from newer IITs like Jodhpur, Mandi, Indore, and Palakkad.

The impact is marginal for top IITs and popular branches like CSE, Mathematics & Computing, and ECE — these will remain extremely competitive. However, programs at newer IITs and newly added branches (AI, Semiconductor, Cybersecurity) may see slightly lower closing ranks compared to 2025.