JoSAA Counselling 2026: IIT Bombay Leads CSE Admissions

By Aabshar Hassan Quazi Engineering JoSAA JoSAA 2026 Kota Coaching June 29, 2026

IIT Bombay Retains Its Crown in JoSAA 2026 Round 1 CSE Admissions

The first round of the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) 2026 counselling has once again highlighted the overwhelming preference of India’s top engineering aspirants for Computer Science Engineering (CSE) at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

As expected, IIT Bombay emerged as the most competitive destination for CSE, maintaining its long-standing reputation as the dream institute for students securing the highest ranks in JEE Advanced 2026.

The latest opening and closing ranks clearly indicate that the country’s best-performing candidates continue to prioritize IIT Bombay over every other engineering institute.

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JoSAA 2026 Round 1 Reflects Stable Admission Trends

Every year, JoSAA counselling provides valuable insights into the admission preferences of JEE Advanced qualifiers. The Round 1 closing ranks often serve as an important benchmark for aspirants planning their choices in the upcoming counselling rounds.

In JoSAA 2026 Round 1, IIT Bombay’s Computer Science Engineering programme opened at All India Rank (AIR) 1 and closed at AIR 65 in the gender-neutral category.

This exceptionally narrow rank range once again confirms the institute’s unmatched popularity and intense competition. Among female-only supernumerary seats, admissions began at AIR 77 and concluded at AIR 395, making it the most competitive CSE programme across all IITs.

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Older IITs Continue to Dominate Computer Science Admissions

The latest admission data demonstrates that India’s oldest IITs continue to command the highest demand among top-ranking students. While newer IITs have significantly improved over the years, aspirants with the best JEE Advanced ranks still overwhelmingly prefer the established institutions because of their academic excellence, research ecosystem, alumni network, global recognition, and placement opportunities.

After IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur recorded one of the earliest opening ranks for CSE at AIR 32, followed closely by IIT Delhi with an opening rank of AIR 35. IIT Madras also remained among the top choices, opening at AIR 67. The closing ranks further reinforce the dominance of these premier institutes, with IIT Delhi closing at AIR 123 and IIT Madras at AIR 149 in the gender-neutral category.

IIT Kharagpur and IIT Roorkee also maintained their strong appeal, with CSE seats closing at AIR 509 and AIR 582 respectively. These figures clearly show that the oldest IITs continue to attract the country’s highest-performing engineering aspirants.

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JoSAA 2026 Round 1 CSE Opening & Closing Ranks

Institute	Gender-Neutral Opening Rank	Gender-Neutral Closing Rank	Female-Only Opening Rank	Female-Only Closing Rank
IIT Bombay	1	65	77	395
IIT Kanpur	32	276	755	1,223
IIT Delhi	35	123	266	681
IIT Madras	67	149	111	539
IIT Kharagpur	217	509	1,004	1,906
IIT Roorkee	277	582	1,284	1,962
IIT Hyderabad	339	647	1,833	2,069
IIT Guwahati	588	810	2,252	2,903

IIT Hyderabad Leads the New Generation of IITs

Among the second-generation IITs, IIT Hyderabad once again emerged as the strongest performer in Computer Science Engineering admissions. Its CSE programme admitted candidates between AIR 339 and AIR 647, placing it well ahead of many other newer IITs.

Following IIT Hyderabad, IIT Guwahati admitted students up to AIR 810, while IIT (BHU) Varanasi closed at AIR 1,436. IIT Indore also maintained a strong position with a closing rank of AIR 1,639. These institutes have steadily strengthened their academic reputation and continue to attract students seeking high-quality education beyond the oldest IITs.

The next group included IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Ropar, IIT Patna, IIT Mandi, IIT Jodhpur and IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, where CSE admissions remained competitive but offered opportunities to candidates with comparatively higher JEE Advanced ranks.

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Admission Trends across the Newer IITs

The remaining newer IITs also witnessed healthy demand for their Computer Science programmes. Institutes such as IIT Bhubaneswar, IIT Tirupati, IIT Goa, IIT Palakkad, IIT Jammu, IIT Dharwad and IIT Bhilai recorded closing ranks ranging from approximately AIR 4,500 to AIR 8,000.

Although these institutions are relatively young, they continue to improve in terms of faculty strength, infrastructure, research output, industry collaborations and placement performance. As a result, they have become increasingly attractive options for students aiming to pursue CSE within the IIT ecosystem.

Only Seven IITs Closed CSE Admissions within the Top 700 Ranks

One of the biggest highlights of JoSAA 2026 Round 1 is that only seven IITs managed to close their gender-neutral Computer Science seats within the top 700 JEE Advanced ranks. These institutes are:

IIT Bombay
IIT Delhi
IIT Madras
IIT Kanpur
IIT Kharagpur
IIT Roorkee
IIT Hyderabad

This clearly illustrates the concentration of demand among a limited group of premier institutions. Students securing top ranks continue to display remarkably similar institute preferences year after year.

Female-Only Seats Continue to Improve Gender Diversity

The introduction of female-only supernumerary seats has significantly improved gender diversity across IIT campuses. As expected, the closing ranks for these seats extended well beyond those of the gender-neutral category.

IIT Bombay admitted female candidates between AIR 77 and AIR 395, while IIT Madras closed at AIR 539 and IIT Delhi at AIR 681. IIT Kanpur’s female-only CSE seats closed at AIR 1,223, followed by IIT Kharagpur at AIR 1,906, IIT Roorkee at AIR 1,962 and IIT Hyderabad at AIR 2,069.

Among the newer IITs, female-only closing ranks crossed AIR 10,000 in several institutes, including IIT Goa, IIT Palakkad, IIT Dharwad, IIT Jammu and IIT Bhilai. These additional seats continue to create more opportunities for deserving female candidates to pursue Computer Science Engineering at prestigious IITs.

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What JoSAA 2026 Round 1 Indicates for JEE Aspirants

The first round of JoSAA counselling reinforces the fact that Computer Science Engineering remains the most competitive engineering branch across the IIT system. Despite the growing popularity of newer institutes, the traditional hierarchy among the top IITs remains largely unchanged.

The results also highlight IIT Hyderabad’s continued rise as the leading choice outside the oldest IITs, reflecting its rapidly growing academic reputation and placement record.

For students participating in the remaining counselling rounds, these opening and closing ranks provide a useful benchmark for estimating admission possibilities. While rank movements are expected during the subsequent rounds due to seat upgrades and withdrawals, significant shifts at the most sought-after IITs are generally limited.

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