JoSAA 2026 Round 1 Analysis

JoSAA 2026 Counselling Schedule

Dates

Round-wise Important Dates

June 13, 2026 — Round 1 Seat Allotment Result & OR-CR Released
June 13–26, 2026 — Online Reporting: SAF Payment, Document Upload, Freeze/Float/Slide
June 30, 2026 — Round 2 Seat Allotment Result Expected
July 2026 — Rounds 3, 4, 5 (IITs close after Round 5)
July 16, 2026 — Final Round 5 Closing Ranks (IITs)
August 2026 — CSAB Special Rounds for vacant NIT/IIIT/GFTI seats

ℹ️

Candidates allotted a seat in Round 1 must pay the Seat Acceptance Fee (SAF): ₹30,000 for General category and ₹15,000 for reserved categories before June 26. Failure to pay will result in seat cancellation.

Top IIT Cutoffs — Round 1, 2026

JEE Advanced AIR

IIT Bombay

Branch	Opening	Closing	Level
CSE	1	65	CSE
Electrical Engg.	175	400	ECE
Aerospace Engg.	1,195	2,305	Aero
Mechanical Engg.	490	1,766	Mech
Chemical Engg.	601	2,405	Chem
Civil Engg.	2,666	4,095	Civil
Engineering Physics	122	1,483	Phy

IIT Delhi

Branch	Opening	Closing	Level
CSE	24	123	CSE
Mathematics & Computing	154	316	M&C
Electrical Engg.	403	593	ECE
Engineering Physics	1,393	2,358	Phy
Mechanical Engg.	1,156	1,862	Mech
Chemical Engg.	1,904	2,425	Chem
Civil Engg.	3,030	4,228	Civil

IIT Madras, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Roorkee — CSE & Key Branches (Open GN)

Institute	Branch	Opening Rank	Closing Rank	vs 2025
IIT Madras	CSE	66	149	▲ Tighter (was 171)
IIT Madras	Electrical Engg.	381	750	— Stable
IIT Kanpur	CSE	90	200	— Stable
IIT Kanpur	Mathematics & Scientific Computing	215	450	— Stable
IIT Kharagpur	CSE	125	509	▼ Slightly relaxed (was 450)
IIT Roorkee	CSE	380	650	— Stable
IIT Guwahati	CSE	700	1,200	— Stable
IIT Hyderabad	CSE	890	1,650	— Stable
IIT Gandhinagar	CSE	1,248	2,144	▼ Relaxed (was 1,872)
IIT Mandi	CSE	2,532	3,609	▼ Relaxed (was 3,087)
IIT Bhubaneswar	CSE	3,022	4,582	▼ Relaxed (was 2,344)
IISc Bangalore	Mathematics & Computing (new 2026)	156	712	🆕 New in 2026
IIT Tirupati / Palakkad	CSE	4,000	6,000	New IITs range

💡

All data: Open category, Gender-Neutral seats, Round 1. IIT ranks are JEE Advanced 2026 AIR. Source: Official JoSAA 2026 OR-CR released June 13, 2026.

Top NIT Cutoffs — Round 1, 2026

JEE Main CRL

CSE — Other State (OS) Quota, Open Category, Gender-Neutral

Institute	Opening Rank	Closing Rank (R1)	Expected Final R6	Demand
NIT Trichy	103	1,317	~1,400–1,600	🔥 Highest
NIT Surathkal	678	1,605	~1,700–1,900	🔥 Very High
NIT Warangal	1,611	2,238	~2,500–2,800	📈 High
NIT Rourkela	2,286	3,606	~3,900–4,200	📈 High
NIT Calicut	2,405	5,100	~5,500–6,000	✅ Moderate
MNIT Jaipur	2,955	5,255	~5,600–6,200	✅ Moderate

⚠️

Home State (HS) quota closing ranks are typically 10,000–30,000 ranks more relaxed than OS for the same branch. Always verify your quota on josaa.nic.in.

Top IIIT Cutoffs — Round 1, 2026

JEE Main CRL

CSE / IT — Open Category, Gender-Neutral, All India Quota

Institute	Branch	Opening	Closing	Note
IIIT Allahabad	Information Technology	2,800	5,177	Most competitive IIIT
IIIT Delhi	CSE	1,800	6,500	Top-tier IIIT
IIIT Bangalore	CSE (Integrated)	3,000	8,000	5-year programme
IIIT Gwalior	IT	4,500	10,000	Indicative
⚠️ IIIT Hyderabad does not admit through JoSAA — admissions via their own UGEE portal (ugadmissions.iiit.ac.in).

Branch Competitiveness — IIT CSE Closing Ranks

Round 1 · Open GN

IIT CSE Closing Rank Comparison

IIT BombayAIR 65

IIT DelhiAIR 123

IIT MadrasAIR 149

IIT KanpurAIR 200

IIT RoorkeeAIR 650

IIT GuwahatiAIR 1,200

IIT HyderabadAIR 1,650

IIT GandhinagarAIR 2,144

IIT MandiAIR 3,609

New IITsAIR 4,000–6,000

📌

Bar width is relative. Shorter bar = more competitive (lower rank needed). Red = hardest, violet = most accessible.

Key Analysis & Insights

🏆 IIT Bombay CSE remains India's most competitive seat — closes at AIR 65, virtually unchanged from 2025 (AIR 66). Demand at the very top is rock-solid.

📉 IIT Madras CSE tightened from AIR 171 (2025) → AIR 149 (2026), overtaking Kanpur. More candidates now prefer Madras over Kharagpur.

🆕 IISc Bangalore joins JoSAA 2026 with a new BTech in Mathematics & Computing — debuted at OR 156 / CR 712, instantly competitive.

📈 AI & Data Science branches at most IITs now rival or exceed ECE closing ranks — demand surge driven by industry trends.

⚡ NIT Trichy CSE (OS) closes at CRL 1,317 in Round 1 — tighter than last year's 1,400. Still the most competitive NIT branch in India.

🔄 Closing ranks relax 8–15% from Round 1 to final round for top NITs. Round 1 is not the final cutoff — use Float for upgrade chances.

Category-wise Admission Guide

All Categories

OPEN (General)

Ranks based on CRL (Common Rank List) for NITs/IIITs and AIR (JEE Advanced) for IITs.

IIT Bombay CSE: AIR ≤ 65
NIT Trichy CSE (OS): CRL ≤ 1,317
Need 99.5+ percentile for top NIT CSE

OBC-NCL / EWS

Ranks based on OBC/EWS Category Rank, not CRL. Category rank is always lower (better) than CRL.

EWS qualifying percentile: 80.38
OBC-NCL qualifying percentile: 79.43
~30–40% relaxation vs OPEN CRL

SC / ST / PwD

Significantly relaxed cutoffs. SC/ST closing ranks are based on SC/ST category rank, not CRL.

SC qualifying percentile: ~61
ST qualifying percentile: ~48
PwD: PwD rank within category

Freeze · Float · Slide — What to Choose?

Decision Guide

🔒 FREEZE

Accept seat, exit future rounds.

Choose if you are happy with your allotted institute and branch. You will not be considered for upgrades in Rounds 2–5.

🌊 FLOAT

Accept seat + stay eligible for upgrades.

Best option if you want to try for a better institute or branch in upcoming rounds. Your current seat is secured while you wait.

↔️ SLIDE

Accept institute, try for better branch.

Choose if you're satisfied with the institute but want a different branch within the same institute in future rounds.

Factors Affecting JoSAA 2026 Cutoffs

📊 More qualifiers in 2026: 56,880 candidates qualified JEE Advanced vs 54,378 in 2025 — slightly higher competition at top IITs, particularly for CSE.

🎯 AI/DS demand surge: Artificial Intelligence and Data Science branches saw the sharpest rise in demand in 2026, with closing ranks climbing steeply vs 2024 at most IITs and top NITs.

🏛️ Total seats: 67,323 across all 138 institutes in 2026, including new seats added at several newer IITs and IIITs. More seats = slight relaxation for less popular branches.

📝 JEE Advanced 2026 paper difficulty: Moderate-to-difficult. A slightly easier paper than 2025 means more candidates scoring higher — which can tighten cutoffs for top IITs marginally.

🏠 HS vs OS quota (NITs): Home State quota closing ranks are 10,000–30,000 more relaxed than Other State. If you're a home-state candidate, your chances at your state NIT are significantly better.

🔄 Round-wise relaxation: Closing ranks at NITs typically relax 8–15% from Round 1 to Round 6 as IIT-allotted candidates free up NIT seats through upgrades.