JoSAA 2026 Analysis: Why has Electrical Engineering become the preferred branch for students at IITs?

The admission process for a total of 18,951 B.Tech, Integrated M.Tech, and dual-degree seats across the country's 23 IITs and IISc Bengaluru under JoSAA Counselling 2026 has concluded. Education expert Dev Sharma, who analyzes seat allocation data, notes that despite the rising trend of Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Data Science, core branches like Electrical Engineering at IITs continue to hold their appeal.

This is evident from the fact that Electrical Engineering seats at top IITs—such as IIT Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, and Madras—were filled by candidates with very high ranks. To secure admission in Electrical Engineering at these four institutes, students had to rank within the top 1,171 in the JEE Advanced 2026 Common Rank List (CRL).

Why does the demand for Electrical Engineering persist?