Tier 1 — Elite NITs (Closing Rank Below 17,225)
These elite NITs — National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, NIT Calicut, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur, and National Institute of Technology, Rourkela and others — offer Other Engineering Programs (Gender-Neutral) accessible only to candidates with JEE Main Category Ranks at or below 17,225. Competition here is among the most intense in Indian engineering admissions. National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli and NIT Calicut and others are showing tightening competition year-over-year — meaning these seats are becoming progressively harder to secure.