IIT Mandi's Review and Verdict by CollegeDekho

Campus at a Glimpse

Established in 2009 by the Government of India, IIT Mandi is one of the eight second-generation IITs which has been newly established for mainly research purposes. IIT Mandi is located in the Kamand Valley, in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. It is a public university, recognized by the UGC and AICTE. Admission at IIT Mandi is conducted through an online application procedure, based on eligibility criteria and marks secured in entrance examinations such as NTA-JEE, IIT JAM, GATE, UGC, CSIR-JRF, and GRE. IIT Mandi is known for its quality of education across B.Tech, M.Tech, MSc, MA and PhD courses. The course curriculum of the university is designed to fit the modern education system, providing a detailed knowledge of each discipline, and aiding students to excel in their respective fields. The average course fee structure at IIT Mandi mostly ranges between INR 40k to INR 10 LPA.

The IIT Mandi campus hosts a number of high-tech facilities for its students, such as libraries, laboratories, hostel units, medical centres, daycare facilities, modern classrooms, a bank and ATM machines, sports facilities, an advanced research centre, gymnasiums, women's cell, guest house accommodations, and so much more. As a somewhat newly established institution, IIT Mandi has most of the facilities for a modern learning experience, enhancing the quality of education provided to the students at large. Moreover, the University campus also has a counselling cell for students, to help extend guidance on career prospects as well as personal development. 

Like any popular institute, IIT Mandi has been in the news for right as well as wrong reasons. Recently the institute suspended 10 students and took disciplinary action against 62 others for allegedly ragging juniors. Depending on the extent of involvement community service for 20 to 60 hours and fines ranging between Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 25,000 have been imposed on the guilty party. The director of the institute, Laxmidhar Behera also made headlines for several weeks for his viral clip on social media wherein he was addressing an auditorium full of students and saying, “That (butchering of animals) has a symbiotic relationship with the degradation of the environment which you can’t see now but it will have.” SFI termed this statement ‘illogical, unscientific' and CPI (M) asked him to 'Resign and apologise'.

IIT Mandi's Rankings 

NIRF Ranking:

IIT Mandi has been ranked among the 100 best universities in India in 2023 by NIRF. The institution has managed to grab an impressive position in the NIRF Rankings every year since 2019. Check out the IIT Mandi NIRF Rankings below:

Other Rankings

Mentioned below are some of the other rankings of IIT Mandi as recorded by different organizations: 

Our Take:

IIT Mandi is widely recognised in the nation as a prestigious institution in the field of Engineering. As per NIRF rankings, the institution has managed to mark its presence among the 100 best universities in the country, consistently for the past five years. Moreover, several other organizations have recognized the contributions of IIT Mandi as an excellent learning institution over a short span of time. IIT Mandi seems to be making remarkable progress by redefining the IT learning experience in the country, which if continued, the university can even bag a position among the top 10 universities in the country in the coming years.

IIT Mandi Academia & Batch Size

IIT Mandi offers a decent seat capacity in each batch of admission. According to this year's data, there are about 1,018 seats overall for undergraduate programmes and around 524 seats in total for Postgraduate courses. Overall, the campus can accommodate up to 1,600 students, including B.Tech, M.Tech, MSc, BSc, and PhD candidates. 

Pedagogy for Programmes

Mentioned below is a list of the most popular course programmes offered at IIT Mandi, along with the course fee structures and eligibility criteria:

IIT Mandi Infrastructure 

IIT Mandi campus boasts of providing the best and the most modern infrastructural facilities to the students, to enhance the overall learning experience. With proper student accommodation, classrooms equipped with all necessary amenities, and additional facilities, IIT Mandi has all the modern amenities required for a great learning experience. Let's find out about the university infrastructure in detail:

Classroom

There are plenty of classrooms at IIT Mandi, each properly equipped with all the necessary amenities for conducting practical classroom learning. Additionally, every classroom has proper facilities for conducting e-learning mode of classes for students, along with smart boards, recording facilities, etc. Interestingly, there are four advanced interactive virtual classrooms available at IIT Mandi. Moreover, the entire campus is Wi-Fi enabled, with a high-speed, strong and stable internet connection. Hygiene and cleanliness are very well maintained throughout the University campus, and each classroom has a varied seat capacity, depending on the purpose of the classroom. However, the average seating capacity of a classroom at IIT Mandi is 60-70 students per classroom.

Internet connection

IIT Mandi has a very strong and stable internet connection access throughout the campus. IIT Mandi has high-speed links of 1 GBPS capacity based on an optical backbone and more than 200 Wi-Fi access points. This makes it one of the most high-tech public universities in the country. All classrooms, staff rooms, libraries, laboratories, cafeteria, etc., have Wi-Fi access all round the year. There are no recorded instances of a failed internet connection access at any given time. Additionally, there are no rules to access the internet connection; any student or faculty member is eligible to use the University's Wi-Fi access without any restrictions. 

Library

IIT Mandi has a huge library which constitutes a large section of the campus. The library is well-stocked with a massive collection of about more than 40,000 books, and about 5,000 online catalogues, free academic ebooks, etc. Not only that, the University library also has a good collection of CDs and DVDs of many genres apart from learning courses. IIT Mandi's library is also well equipped with various facilities including Xerox machines, printers, fax machines, computers, and other amenities. The entire library is air conditioned and completely automated, and Koha Lms is used for automating the library activities.

Hostel

The hostel facilities at IIT Mandi are pretty modern and well-packed as compared to other universities' students' accommodations. The hostel rooms are spacious, well furnished, air-conditioned, and have a laundry service. There are separate hostel units for boys and girls, along with a warden and a senior in charge in the absence of a warden for each. Every hostel building has a common area, clean drinking water flowing 24*7, food, dining area, power supply backup, laundry facilities, entertainment zones, first aid room, activity rooms, an auditorium, gymnasiums, 24*7 security services, etc. Around a total of 500 students can be accommodated at the IIT Mandi's hostel facilities at a time. Moreover, regular extracurricular activities, such as sports tournaments, etc., are also frequently arranged at the hostel buildings by the students at IIT Mandi.

Canteen 

The cafeteria space at IIT Mandi stands as an important part of the campus, with a huge fully air-conditioned space along with modern furnishings and an automatic cooking system. The canteen has clean drinking water running 24*7 with a water cooling facility and a huge food storage unit. Students are served hot meals and beverages from the wide array of menus available. Additionally, the canteen kitchen maintains proper hygiene and cleanliness throughout the space, and the prices of the food items are also priced at reasonable rates. However, many students have complained about the quality of food at IIT Mandi. Many have been disappointed over the taste and the quality of items that are served to the students at the canteen of the University. 

Health Care Facility 

The healthcare facilities at IIT Mandi are truly remarkable as compared to other public universities. There is a 24*7 medical unit inside the University campus, with available on-call male and female doctors, staff nurses, and pharmacists. Additionally, there is a 24*7 ambulance service for students as well, to cater for medical emergencies and for medical transportation. Since the town of Mandi has several known governments and private hospitals that provide modern treatments to patients, in case of Medical emergencies, students are usually transported to these hospitals in the town. Apart from this, all medical equipment inside the on-campus Medical Healthcare facility is well maintained by medical professionals.

Sports 

IIT Mandi has a very good reputation when it comes to encouraging students to participate in extracurricular activities such as sports. The University campus hosts a number of sports activity centres for its students, such as grounds for Basketball, Cricket, Volleyball, Soccer, Hockey, Football, Badminton, Tennis, Table Tennis, Cycling, etc.,  along with gymnasiums and auditoriums. Additionally, there are designated dance rooms, music rooms, and others specified for several extracurricular activities as well.

Other Facilities 

The University campus at IIT Mandi has a separate dedicated Women's Cell to promote awareness among the campus about various gender-related issues. This cell is also responsible for organizing various awareness programs and events, to provide a safe and secure space for women to pursue higher education at the University. 

IIT Mandi's infrastructure also includes a guest house for accommodating visiting professors and officials. The guest house is fully equipped with an air conditioner, clean drinking water running throughout the day, food, and all other necessary amenities. They also have power supply backups in case of emergency power cuts. 

Our Take:

With a large number of on-campus amenities available for both students and the faculty, IIT Mandi definitely exceeds all expectations from a student's point of view. Apart from excellent learning facilities, the University also provides luxurious accommodations for students that are equipped with all modern amenities. However, one of the major setbacks for such an infrastructure is that it is difficult to strike a balance between the learning atmosphere and the luxurious experience of studying at IIT Mandi University. 

IIT Mandi's Diversity, Representation

IIT Mandi grants admission to a decent number of students every year. However, about 75% of the students are usually male and around 25% of them female. Being one of the modern universities in the country, the gender diversity is not very impressive. Around 80% of the students granted admission at IIT Mandi are usually from outside the home state which is good for the diversity but more can be done so that a higher number of Himachal Pradesh residents are considered for IIT Mandi admission.

Our Take:

IIT Mandi especially grants admission to students hailing from different states of India. However, this often creates a misinterpretation that the university largely prefers students from outside Himachal Pradesh to students from the home state. Additionally, the low number of women admitted at IIT Mandi creates a severe issue of an imbalanced gender ratio at the university. It is a major issue of concern, to determine what restricts women from applying at the IIT Mandi University for academic excellence. 

IIT Mandi Internships and Placements

Internships

As per students' recorded responses, the internship opportunities for students studying at IIT Mandi are fairly decent. Many top companies are always on the lookout for interns to add to their valuable organizations, offering higher stipends and hands-on practical experience. However, the stipend for each job prospect offered to students may vary depending on the student's knowledge, skill set and course of study. Even then, the average amount of remuneration offered to students post their graduation at IIT Mandi is usually no less than INR 30,000/month. 

Placements

IIT Mandi has a dedicated placement cell for its students, which is known as the CnP or Career and Placement Cell. It aims to provide the best placement opportunities for its students by guiding them through the required skill sets to grab the best career opportunities. The employment rate after graduation at IIT Mandi is higher than other universities as the placement cell is responsible for efficiently managing and administering all the professional development of its students. The team at the placement cell comprises Placement officers, faculty members, and volunteer students. Additionally, the placement cell of IIT Mandi also organizes Industrial visits, Seminars and Guest lectures, Student counselling, Workshops and other activities to develop a student's overall learning experience at the University. 

Mentioned below is the previous year’s placement data for IIT Mandi:

Top Recruiters

Some of the top recruiting agencies to recruit students from the IIT Mandi are mentioned below:

Our Take:

The internship and placement opportunities at IIT Mandi are better than many other engineering colleges in the nation. The placement cell at IIT Mandi has successfully managed to provide unbeatable professional guidance to the students, to improve and excel in their approach and way of conduct when it comes to showcasing their skills and knowledge during the recruitment process.

Faculty & College Management/Administration

IIT Mandi faculty fraternity mostly comprises a huge number of professionals across the fields of Engineering and Sciences. Each teaching member recruited at the University has considerable experience and expertise, as well as recognized contributions in the relevant fields of high-quality research. The faculty team at IIT Mandi is supportive, knowledgeable, and has strong student-faculty communication skills. Some of the notable alumni of IIT Mandi are Athar Aamir Khan (IAS Officer), Srimanta Mandal (Researcher), Lakshman Mahto (Researcher), and others. 

Our Take:

Contrary to popular belief, despite a large number of teaching faculty members, many students have felt that the student-teacher bonding is not very strong at IIT Mandi. Many students have complained about the lack of scope for informal communication with the teaching faculty regarding topics across various aspects of academics. The overly professional conduct of the authorities may often give off the idea that they are difficult to approach. However, this issue has been addressed by the institute, and therefore, proper measures to cater to this problem have been taken into consideration by the authorities at IIT Mandi. 

IIT Mandi Location

IIT Mandi is located in the Kamand Valley of Mandi City in the district of Mandi of Himachal Pradesh. The University is located about 14 km from Mandi, on the bank of the Uhl River at Kamand and Salgi villages. Mandi has an average elevation of 1044 m, and is situated on the banks of Beas. Therefore, the location of the University makes for great scenic views and frequent changes in extreme climatic conditions. 

IIT Mandi Expectation vs Reality: CollegeDekho Verdict

As a public University which stands out for its enormous campus and a wide range of modern campus facilities, IIT Mandi is a great choice for students who wish to witness the IT infrastructural genius and secure a stable career prospect post their graduation. This University rarely gets any negative feedback from its students and alumni, therefore making it a dream institution for a great learning experience.  The faculty, accommodations, quality of education, etc. have managed to successfully elevate the name of the institution. Find out the report card of IIT Mandi below: