New Delhi:
Around 38 per cent of sanctioned faculty posts are lying vacant across 22 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), according to institution-wise data analysed by NDTV. This translates to nearly four out of every 10 teaching positions remaining unfilled, highlighting significant staffing shortages at the country’s premier engineering institutions.
The analysis shows the 22 IITs together have 12,198 sanctioned faculty posts, of which only 7,558 are occupied, leaving 4,640 vacancies, representing an overall faculty vacancy rate of 38.04 per cent.
Older IITs Show Higher Vacancy Rate
The data shows the faculty shortage is particularly severe at some of India’s oldest and largest IITs, despite having over 135,000 students across the IIT system.
IIT Kharagpur reported the highest vacancy rate at 51.31 per cent. Against 1,600 sanctioned faculty posts, the institute has only 779 faculty members in position, leaving 821 vacancies. In simple terms, more than one out of every two sanctioned teaching posts remains vacant.
IIT (ISM) Dhanbad reported the second-highest vacancy rate at 48.4 per cent, with 378 vacancies against 781 sanctioned posts. IIT Goa has a vacancy rate of 45.83 per cent, while IIT Guwahati reported 42.23 per cent, and IIT Roorkee reported 40.68 per cent.
Several other prominent IITs are also operating with vacancies close to two-fifths of their sanctioned faculty strength. IIT Mandi reported a vacancy rate of 39.9 per cent, IIT Kanpur 39 per cent, IIT BHU 38.48 per cent, IIT Bombay 38.36 per cent, and IIT Delhi 38.33 per cent. In absolute terms, some of these institutes are also among those with the largest staffing gaps. IIT Roorkee has over 300 vacant faculty posts, IIT Delhi over 300, IIT Bombay nearly 290, and IIT Kanpur over 260 vacancies.
The figures indicate that several of the country’s biggest and oldest IITs continue to face substantial faculty shortages despite ongoing recruitment efforts.
NDTV analysed the data uploaded on the IIT Council website following a question raised in Parliament by Indian Union Muslim League Rajya Sabha MP Abdul Wahab. The MP had sought IIT-wise details of sanctioned teaching positions, the number of faculty members in place, and vacant posts across centrally funded higher educational institutions.
In a written reply tabled in the Rajya Sabha on February 4, Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar said faculty vacancies were part of a “continuous process” arising from retirements, resignations, and promotions. He said higher educational institutions were carrying out recruitment throughout the year through regular advertisements, special recruitment drives, and recruitment in “mission mode”. However, the reply did not provide the institution-wise vacancy data specifically sought by the MP.
An Education Ministry email dated January 28, accessed by NDTV, shows officials directed IITs to submit the required data by January 30. The IIT-wise figures were later uploaded on the IIT Council website on March 10. The documents included data from 22 IITs, though faculty vacancy details for IIT Patna were not available, making it the only IIT missing from the institution-wise records.
The documents also point to inconsistencies in data disclosure. Only nine IITs-Guwahati, Roorkee, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Ropar, Mandi, Tirupati, and Bhilai-submitted faculty vacancy data broken down by caste category, while the remaining institutes reported only overall vacancy figures.
Across these nine IITs, vacancies in the SC, ST, and OBC categories together stood at 888 out of the total 1,501 vacant faculty posts, accounting for nearly 60 per cent of all reported vacancies. OBC posts made up the largest share at 477 vacancies, followed by the General category (443), SC (261), EWS (170), and ST (150).
Vacancy Rates Vary Widely Across Institutes
The staffing picture differs considerably across IITs.
IIT Dharwad reported the lowest vacancy rate at just 1.07 per cent, with only one sanctioned faculty post lying vacant. IIT Palakkad reported a vacancy rate of 5.88 per cent, while IIT Ropar reported 14.35 per cent. IIT Tirupati and IIT Bhilai also recorded comparatively low vacancy rates of around 14 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. These institutes also have significantly smaller sanctioned faculty strength than older IITs, making their staffing requirements comparatively lower.
Overall, vacancy rates range from just over one per cent to more than 51 per cent, underscoring the wide variation in staffing levels across the IIT system rather than a uniform pattern.
Contract Teachers Bridging Some Gaps
The data also contains details of ad hoc, guest, contract, temporary, and re-employed teachers deployed by IITs as of January 1, 2026, indicating that some institutes are relying on temporary appointments to partly bridge faculty shortages.
IIT Bombay reported the highest number of such faculty members at 234, followed by IIT Madras with 139 and IIT Gandhinagar with 81. IIT Kanpur reported 55 contract or temporary teachers, while IIT Delhi reported 41.
While these appointments help institutions meet immediate teaching requirements, the figures suggest contractual hiring is only a partial solution and does not offset the 4,640 vacant sanctioned faculty posts across the 22 IITs. Several institutes reported either no contractual faculty or only a handful of such appointments, indicating temporary hiring has not been adopted uniformly across the IIT system.
NDTV reached out to the Union Education Ministry for a response on the faculty vacancies. However, no response had been received at the time of publication. This report will be updated if and when the ministry issues a statement.
The data indicates that sizable staffing gaps continue across several IITs despite ongoing recruitment efforts. While a few institutes have filled almost all sanctioned faculty posts, others continue to operate with vacancy rates exceeding 40 per cent.
Here’s What IIT Gandhinagar Director And IIT Bombay Professor Said
IIT Gandhinagar Director Rajat Moona said the faculty shortage across IITs stemmed primarily from a shortage of highly qualified candidates rather than a lack of recruitment efforts.
“The basic challenge is that IITs recruit faculty who are among the best trained in their fields, often with strong postdoctoral experience. In many specialised areas, we simply don’t receive enough applications of the required quality, making it difficult to fill positions,” he said.
Referring to reservation in faculty recruitment, Professor Moona said the issue was not the policy itself but the limited availability of candidates meeting IITs’ academic standards. “Reservation has applied to faculty recruitment since 2019. However, when we look at applicants from reserved categories, we often don’t find enough candidates who meet the required qualifications,” he said.
Professor Moona said the shortage had intensified because the demand for faculty had grown much faster than the supply of PhD graduates. “The requirement for faculty across IITs has roughly tripled over the past decade, but the number of people pursuing PhDs has not increased at the same pace. As a result, the recruitment challenge has only become more acute over the years,” he said.
He also dismissed the perception that private universities are the IITs’ biggest competitors for faculty. “We don’t really compete with private universities because they recruit with very different criteria. Our real competition is with leading international universities such as Cornell and MIT, which offer significantly better salaries, research infrastructure, and quality of life,” he said.
According to Professor Moona, international institutions are often able to attract the same pool of highly qualified candidates that IITs seek. “Faculty today are highly mobile and relocate frequently. Competition for outstanding researchers remains intense globally,” he said.
While acknowledging that salaries play a role, Professor Moona said research support was equally important in attracting faculty. “Research funding is very low in India. If faculty have access to stronger research funding and infrastructure, universities become much more attractive places to build an academic career,” he said.
An IIT Bombay professor, speaking on condition of anonymity, echoed similar views.
“IITs have always been extremely selective about faculty recruitment. The thinking has been that it’s better to leave a position vacant than appoint someone who isn’t the right fit,” the professor said.
However, the professor did admit that both a limited talent pool and salary constraints could be reasons for the vacancies.
“Not many people are pursuing PhDs today, so the pool of potential faculty is relatively small. At the same time, government salaries often struggle to compete with what candidates can earn in the private sector,” the professor added.
While IITs have the option of appointing faculty on a one-year probation before confirming them, the professor said this provision is rarely invoked to assess suitability. “In practice, once someone joins, they usually stay for 30 to 40 years. That’s a huge institutional commitment, so recruitment committees tend to be very cautious. I know of only one case where someone was asked to leave after the probation period,” the professor said.
The professor argued that a tenure-track system, similar to those followed by many international universities, could offer a better balance. “One option is to recruit faculty on five-year contracts, after which they can either be confirmed as permanent faculty or let go based on performance. It would be a delicate balancing act, but it could make hiring more flexible without compromising on quality,” the professor added.
Despite the vacancies, the professor said the situation had not reached a crisis. “The shortage isn’t crippling the IIT system. Of course, having more faculty would help as student numbers increase, but the long-term damage would be far greater if institutes compromise on quality simply to fill vacancies,” the professor said.
The professor, however, acknowledged that faculty shortages have increased workloads. “It is not uncommon for a professor to teach well over 100 students across different subjects, which makes things more challenging for both faculty and students. But IITs require highly specialised faculty, and that standard cannot be diluted,” the professor said.
The professor also called for policy reforms to make academic careers more attractive. “The issue isn’t being discussed enough. Faculty need better incentives. There are salary ceilings in the government system-an IIT director cannot earn more than a ministry secretary, and professors cannot earn more than the director. Those restrictions need to be revisited if we want to attract and retain top talent,” the professor said.
The professor was critical of guest and ad hoc faculty, saying such arrangements had “largely failed” because they did not provide the long-term commitment needed for teaching and research. “Guest faculty can help address immediate requirements, but they are not a substitute for a strong permanent faculty base,” the professor said.
