There are approximately 2,000 engineering institutes in India that offer admissions based on the GATE Score. Of these, nearly 1,631 are private institutes and 739 are under government /public organisations. Out of these, 17 are public-private owned entities. GATE is the most accepted national-level Exam for offering admission for M.Tech./PhD programmes in IITs, IIsc, NITs, and other Engineering institutes. Top GATE Colleges based on NIRF ranking are IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, DTU, IIT Kharagpur, IIT BHU, IIT GUWAHATI, NIT Trichy, IIT Kanpur, and more.
Also raed GATE Exam
Top GATE colleges in India
GATE is a national-level Exam conducted yearly by the IITs and IISc to offer admissions in top GATE colleges in India for M.Tech/PhD programmes. GATE participating institutes offer admission based on the GATE score. Candidates who have a valid GATE score can apply for COAP and CCMT Counselling. Candidates are free to choose the top GATE colleges in India as their desired institutes during counselling.
The ranking of top GATE colleges in India depends on many parameters like teaching, learning, research, graduation outcomes, outreach, and perception. The NIRF(National Institutional Ranking Framework) ranking is a methodology adopted by the Indian Government for ranking higher education institutes in the country.
Also read GATE Syllabus 2026
Top GATE Colleges in India List NIRF Ranking
Top GATE colleges in India the list are listed in the table below, which will help Candidates to choose the best according to their rank in the GATE Exam.
| Top GATE colleges in India | |
|---|---|
| Colleges | NIRF Ranking |
| IIT Madras | NIRF Rank- 1 |
| IIT Delhi | NIRF Rank- 2 |
| IIT Bombay | NIRF Rank- 3 |
| IIT Kanpur | NIRF Rank- 4 |
| IIT Kharagpur | NIRF Rank- 5 |
| IIT Roorkee | NIRF Rank- 6 |
| IIT Guwahati | NIRF Rank- 7 |
| NIT Trichy | NIRF Rank- 8 |
| IIT Hyderabad | NIRF Rank- 9 |
| NIT Surathkal (Karnataka) | NIRF Rank-10 |
| Jadavpur University | NIRF Rank- 11 |
| IIT BHU(Varanasi) | NIRF Rank-13 |
| IIT Dhanbad | NIRF Rank-14 |
| NIT Rourkela | NIRF Rank-15 |
| IIT Indore | NIRF Rank- 16 |
| ICT (Institute of Chemical Technology) | NIRF Rank- 18 |
| IIT Mandi | NIRF Rank- 20 |
| NIT Warangal | NIRF Rank- 21 |
| IIT Ropar | NIRF Rank- 22 |
| IIT Gandhinagar | NIRF Rank- 23 |
| IIT Jodhpur | NIRF Rank – 30 |
| NIT Calicut | NIRF Rank- 31 |
| VNIT Nagpur | NIRF Rank- 32 |
| IIT Patna | NIRF Rank-33 |
| NIT Durgapur | NIRF Rank-34 |
| DTU Delhi | NIRF Rank-35 |
| IIT Bhubaneshwar | NIRF Rank-36 |
| AMU Aligarh | NIRF Rank-37 |
| NIT Silchar | NIRF Rank-38 |
| IIEST Shibpur | NIRF Rank- 40 |
| IIST Thiruvananthapuram | NIRF Rank- 43 |
| MNIT Jaipur | NIRF Rank-46 |
| MNNIT Allahabad | NIRF Rank-47 |
| NIT Kurukshetra | NIRF Rank- 50 |
| NIT Jalandhar | NIRF Rank-52 |
| IIT Tirupati | NIRF Rank- 56 |
| SVNIT Surat | NIRF Rank- 58 |
| NIT Meghalaya | NIRF Rank- 60 |
| NIT Patna | NIRF Rank- 63 |
| NIT Raipur | NIRF Rank- 65 |
| NIT Srinagar | NIRF Rank-66 |
| IIT Palakkad | NIRF Rank-68 |
| IIIT Delhi | NIRF Rank-69 |
| MANIT Bhopal | NIRF Rank- 70 |
| DIAT Pune | NIRF Rank- 71 |
| COEP Pune | NIRF Rank-72 |
| GGSIPU Delhi | NIRF Rank- 74 |
| JNTUH University | NIRF Rank- 76 |
| IIITM Gwalior | NIRF Rank- 78 |
| NSUT Delhi | NIRF Rank- 79 |
| NIT Agartala | NIRF Rank- 80 |
| IIIT Bangalore | NIRF Rank- 81 |
| IIITDM | NIRF Rank- 82 |
| NIT Goa | NIRF Rank- 88 |
| NIT Jamshedpur | NIRF Rank- 90 |
Also read GATE participating Institutes
Top 10 GATE colleges in India
Here is the list of the top 10 colleges in India in the last three years based on the NIRF ranking. The cutoff marks for these institutes are higher, and the possibility of securing seats is very less. There, the ratio of applicants & no. of seats is too high.
| Top 10 GATE colleges in India | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Top Colleges | NIRF 2022 | NIRF 2023 | NIRF 2024 |
| IIT Madras Ranking | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| IIT Delhi Ranking | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| IIT Bombay Ranking | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| IIT Kanpur Ranking | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| IIT Kharagpur Ranking | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| IIT Roorkee Ranking | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| IIT Guwahati Ranking | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| IIT Hyderabad Ranking | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| NIT Tiruchirapalli | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| BHU Varanasi Ranking | 13 | 15 | 10 |
Top State Colleges and Private Colleges
Many State and private colleges accept GATE Scores. Candidates who are below the top IITs and IISc ranking Cutoffs can choose these colleges besides waiting for the next chance. list of top state Colleges and private colleges is provided here based on the NIRF Ranking 2023.
| Top State Colleges and Private Colleges | |
| Sl. No. | Name |
| 1 | Anna University |
| 2 | Bengal Engineering And Science University |
| 3 | BITS Pilani |
| 4 | Cochin University Of Science And Technology |
| 5 | College Of Engineering, Trivandrum |
| 6 | Defence Institute Of Advanced Technology (DIAT) |
| 7 | Delhi College Of Engineering |
| 8 | Delhi Technical University |
| 9 | Gautam Buddha Technical University (GBTU) |
| 10 | Govind BallabhPant University Of Agriculture and Technology |
| 11 | Govt. College Of Engineering Pune (COEP) |
| 12 | Guru Jambheshwar University Of Science & Technology |
| 13 | HBTI Kanpur |
| 14 | ISM Dhanbad |
| 15 | Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University |
| 16 | Netaji Subhas Institute Of Technology |
| 17 | Osmania University |
| 18 | Punjab Engineering College |
| 19 | Punjab Technical University |
| 20 | Rajasthan Technical University (RTU) |
| 21 | Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Viswavidyalaya (RGTU) Bhopal |
| 22 | SV College Of Engineering |
| 23 | University Of Calicut |
| 24 | University Visvesvaraya College Of Engineering |
| 25 | VJTI Mumbai |
Also read GATE Books
TOP GATE Private Colleges
Private colleges also accept the GATE Score for admissions. Top private colleges that accept the GATE Score is as well as the NIRF ranking, is given in the table below
| TOP GATE Private Colleges | |
| Private Colleges | NIRF Ranking |
| VIT- Vellore Institute of Technology | NIRF Rank- 12 |
| SRM University Chennai | NIRF Rank – 24 |
| Shiksha ‘O’ Anusandhan – Bhubaneswar | NIRF Rank- 34 |
| Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology | NIRF Rank- 28 |
| BITS Pilani | NIRF Rank- 29 |
| SASTRA Tanjavur | NIRF Rank- 41 |
| KIIT University | NIRF Rank-42 |
| KL University – Guntur | NIRF Rank-44 |
| Sri Siva subramaniya Nadar College of Engineering – Kancheepuram | NIRF Rank- 48 |
| BIT Mesra | NIRF Rank- 53 |
| PSG College of Technology – Coimbatore | NIRF Rank- 57 |
| M. S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology – Bangalore | NIRF Rank- 67 |
| Manipur Institute of Technology | NIRF Rank- 75 |
| B.M.S. College of Engineering – Bangalore | NIRF Rank- 83 |
| Vel Tech Chennai | NIRF Rank- 84 |
| Thiagarajar College of Engineering – Madurai | NIRF Rank- 85 |
| R. V. College of Engineering – Bangalore | NIRF Rank- 89 |
| S.R University Warangal | NIRF Rank- 91 |
| JIIT Noida | NIRF Rank- 94 |
| SIT Tumkur | NIRF Rank- 97 |
| CV Raman Global University | NIRF Rank- 98 |
Also read GATE PYQs
Top GATE Colleges in India FAQs
Which institute was on top in the NIRF ranking 2024?
In the NIRF ranking 2024 IIT Madras was on top.
How many institutes participate in the GATE Exam admissions?
Numerous institutes participate in the GATE Exam admissions. Read the above article to know about them based on their NIRF Ranking.
When will the information brochure for the GATE Exam 2026 be released?
IIT Guwahati will conduct GATE Exam 2026, and the information brochure will be released on the official website gate.iitg.ac.in soon.
Who is eligible for GATE Counselling 2026?
Candidates who have qualified GATE Exam in the years 2026, 2025 & 2024 are eligible to apply for GATE Counselling 2026.
