IIT ISM Dhanbad

Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad [IIT (ISM) Dhanbad] is a central government Institution of National Importance located in Dhanbad, Jharkhand. The institute was founded on December 9, 1926, as the Indian School of Mines by the British colonial government, making it one of India's oldest and most historically significant technical institutions. ISM Dhanbad was upgraded to an IIT on September 6, 2016, following the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 2016, receiving full IIT status from the President of India. In NIRF 2025, IIT ISM ranked #15 in Engineering (score: 65.37), #35 in Overall (score: 58.33), #48 in Management (score: 54.34), and #27 in Research (score: 54.28).

IIT ISM Dhanbad is India's primary national centre of excellence for mining, petroleum, mineral, and earth sciences engineering. Located in the heart of India's prime coking coal belt, the institute has historically trained engineers who built India's coal, petroleum, and mineral extraction industries. The institute now offers 15 B.Tech branches spanning all engineering disciplines alongside its heritage specialisations.

IIT ISM Dhanbad Snapshot

Courses and Fees

B.Tech Programmes, 4 Years

Admission via JEE Advanced through JoSAA (institute code 114). IIT ISM Dhanbad offers fifteen B.Tech branches:

1. Computer Science and Engineering: 145 seats
2. Electrical Engineering: 130 seats
3. Electronics and Communication Engineering: 130 seats
4. Mechanical Engineering: 130 seats
5. Mathematics and Computing: 75 seats
6. Petroleum Engineering: 79 seats
7. Civil Engineering: 70 seats
8. Mining Engineering: 60 seats
9. Environmental Engineering: 50 seats
10. Chemical Engineering: 49 seats
11. Mining Machinery Engineering: 47 seats
12. Mineral and Metallurgical Engineering: 37 seats
13. Engineering Physics: 32 seats
14. Geological Engineering: 21 seats
15. Geophysical Technology: 21 seats

Total B.Tech seats: approximately 1,076 (gender-neutral pool per JoSAA 2025 seat matrix). Supernumerary female-only seats are available in addition. IIT ISM also offers Dual Degree programmes (including B.Tech Mining Engineering + MBA in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, jointly with IIM Mumbai, 60 seats) and BS-MS programmes in Physical Sciences and Chemical Sciences.

Category-wise reservation follows standard IIT norms: OBC-NCL 27%, SC 15%, ST 7.5%, EWS 10%, Open 40.5%.

B.Tech Fee Structure (2024-25, approximate):

Fee waivers:

• SC/ST/PwD students: 100% tuition fee waiver (unconditional)
• Family income below Rs 1 lakh per year: 100% tuition fee waiver
• Family income Rs 1 to 5 lakh per year: 66.67% tuition fee waiver
• MCM Scholarship recipients (top 35% of batch on merit-cum-means criteria): tuition fee refund plus Rs 1,000 per month stipend for up to 10 months (top 25% tier)

MBA Programmes, 2 Years

IIT ISM Dhanbad's Department of Management Studies and Industrial Engineering offers two MBA programmes admitted via CAT:

• MBA (General Management): 62 seats. Covers finance, marketing, operations, strategy, and business analytics. CAT-based admission with personal interview.
• MBA (Business Analytics): 30 seats. Specialised MBA with data-driven business analytics curriculum. CAT-based admission.

Total MBA intake: 92 seats (2025-26 batch). Approximate total programme fee: Rs 3.67 lakh over 2 years (significantly lower than peer institution MBAs). CAT competitive percentile for shortlisting is approximately 80 or above.

M.Tech Programmes, 2 Years

IIT ISM Dhanbad offers M.Tech (full-time, GATE-based via COAP) across all 18 academic departments. Specialisations include: Mining Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Mineral Engineering, Geological Sciences, Geophysics, CSE, EE, ECE, Mechanical, Chemical, Environmental Engineering, Applied Physics, Applied Chemistry, and Management. An Executive M.Tech programme is also available for working professionals with 2 or more years of experience.

Other Programmes

PhD (21 disciplines), BS-MS (Physical and Chemical Sciences, dual-degree research track), Dual Degree B.Tech + MBA (with IIM Mumbai), and various interdisciplinary research programmes.

Admissions

JEE Advanced 2024 Cutoffs (JoSAA 2024, OPEN Category)

IIT (ISM) Dhanbad uses JEE Advanced for B.Tech admission (JoSAA institute code 114).

Source: JoSAA 2024 official data (via Adda247 compilation). For category-wise data and complete round-wise ranks, verify at josaa.admissions.nic.in (Year 2024, Institute 114).

MBA Admissions

MBA and MBA-BA admissions are via CAT score. Shortlisted candidates attend a personal interview at the institute. Final selection weightage: CAT 35%, Personal Interview 40%, Academic Performance 15%, Work Experience 10%. Competitive CAT overall percentile for shortlisting is approximately 80 or above.

Fees

B.Tech total cost of attendance over 4 years is approximately Rs 12 lakh including tuition (Rs 8 lakh over 4 years), hostel, mess, and other charges. Tuition alone is Rs 1,00,000 per semester. SC/ST/PwD students receive full tuition waiver. MBA total programme fee (2 years) is approximately Rs 3.67 lakh, making it one of the most affordable MBA programmes at any IIT. Full fee schedules are at people.iitism.ac.in/~dsw.

Scholarships

Merit-cum-Means (MCM) Scholarship: Available to up to 35% of enrolled UG students. Eligibility: adequate academic standing and family income below the applicable ceiling. Top 25% tier: full tuition fee refund plus Rs 1,000 per month pocket money for 10 months per year. Next 10% tier: tuition fee refund only. Apply through the Office of the Dean (Student Welfare).

SC/ST/PwD Tuition Fee Waiver: Unconditional 100% tuition fee waiver for all SC/ST and PwD students. Only hostel and mess charges apply.

Ministry of Education Income-based Fee Remission:

• Family income below Rs 1 lakh per year: 100% tuition remission
• Family income Rs 1 to 5 lakh per year: two-thirds (66.67%) tuition remission

JEE Advanced Top Rankers: Students securing JEE Advanced CRL at or below 1,000 may be eligible for additional tuition fee waiver as per MoE provisions.

Government scholarships via National Scholarship Portal (scholarships.gov.in):

• PM-YASASVI for OBC/EBC/DNT students
• Post-Matric Scholarship for SC/ST students
• Central Sector Scholarship for students with family income below Rs 4.5 lakh per year

M.Tech Stipend: All GATE-qualified full-time M.Tech students receive Rs 12,400 per month from the Ministry of Education (Teaching Assistantship).

Campus

IIT ISM Dhanbad's campus is located at Sardar Patel Nagar, Dhanbad, Jharkhand, approximately 260 km from Kolkata. The total campus area is approximately 444.98 acres, comprising 218 acres on the main campus and 226.98 acres reserved for the upcoming Nirsa campus expansion.

Hostels: Eleven residential hostels, each named after a gemstone: Jasper (largest hostel, capacity approximately 1,200), Sapphire, Ruby, Rosaline, Diamond, Amber, Aquamarine, Topaz, Emerald, Opal, and an International Hostel. Four hostels (Ruby, Rosaline, and two others) are designated for women students.

Academic departments: 18 departments covering all engineering disciplines, basic sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics), management studies, and humanities and social sciences. The Department of Petroleum Engineering and the Department of Mining Engineering are among the oldest and most established in India.

Facilities: Swimming pool, gymnasium, multiple student canteens and mess halls, central library, multi-purpose sports complex, and workshop facilities.

Industry proximity: Dhanbad is the coal capital of India. IIT ISM's location in the Jharia coalfield gives it unique proximity to Coal India Limited (CIL), SAIL (Steel Authority of India), BCCL (Bharat Coking Coal Limited), CMPDIL, and major PSUs active in mining and mineral extraction. This proximity has historically made IIT ISM a preferred recruitment destination for core engineering sectors.

100th year: IIT ISM Dhanbad celebrates its centenary in 2026, marking 100 years from its founding in 1926.

Notable alumni

• Rabi Narayan Bastia (Padma Shri, hydrocarbon exploration geoscientist)
• Vijay Prasad Dimri (Padma Shri, geophysical scientist)
• Harsh Gupta (Padma Shri, seismologist)
• Waman Bapuji Metre (1906-1970, Padma Bhushan, pioneer of the Indian oil industry)
• Shyam Sundar Rai (Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize laureate, seismologist)
• Gulshan Lal Tandon (Padma Bhushan, former Chairman and Managing Director, Coal India)
• Jaswant Singh Gill (1939-2019, Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak for 1989 Raniganj mine rescue)