This are article is well researched from reliable sources. The article mentions about references at the end.
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are seen as the top engineering colleges in India. Getting in is very hard. Many students spend years preparing for JEE. IIT graduates work in big companies, earn high salaries and are respected in society.
Yet one uncomfortable question is still there:
If the best students go to IIT, why do we see so few big breakthroughs in core technology, embedded systems and semiconductors led by IITians inside India?
This is not about blaming IIT students. The talent is clearly there. The problem lies more in the culture and the incentives around them: what we praise, what we pay for, and what we call “success”.
1. Where Do IIT Graduates Actually Go?
Recent placement reports show a clear pattern. For example, the IIT Bombay Placement & Internship Report 2023–24 says that the Engineering & Technology sector hired about 430 students in core engineering roles, while IT / Software hired around 307 students in the same season (IIT Bombay, 2024).1 The previous year also shows Engineering & Technology as the largest sector (IIT Bombay, 2023).2
Public data for IIT Delhi placements shows that “Core (Technical)” took about 34–42% of students, while IT took about 20–22%. The rest went into consulting, management, analytics and other roles (CareerKaptain, 2025; IIT Delhi, 2025).3,4
In simple words: a lot of IITians go into core engineering and software, but many also move into finance, consulting and analytics. Only a thin slice clearly lands in long-term research or hard-core technology building. Embedded and chip design roles are only a fraction of that thin slice.
2. Why Do So Few Go Into Embedded and Semiconductors?
If India wants real tech power, it needs many more people in:
- Embedded systems and firmware
- Chip design (VLSI, semiconductors)
- Hardware–software co-design
- Real-time systems for cars, defence, space etc.
But these fields are slow and painful to master. You read long datasheets, fight strange bugs, and wait a long time for visible success. On the other hand, software and consulting jobs offer quick rewards: good starting pay, clear growth, and easy bragging rights.
The wider tech industry also pushes them in that direction. NASSCOM’s Technology Sector in India: Strategic Review 2025 notes that India’s tech sector is on track for around USD 280–300 billion in revenue by FY25/FY26, driven mainly by IT services, BPM and software-led work (NASSCOM, 2025).5 Engineering R&D and deep-tech are mentioned, but as smaller parts of the total.
So when a fresh IIT graduate has to choose between:
- a big, stable software/IT world, or
- a smaller, tougher, hardware-heavy path,
most choose the first option. It is a rational decision, but it leaves embedded and semiconductor areas under-filled.
3. Exam and Campus Culture: Quick Success Wins
The journey starts even before IIT. JEE training teaches students to solve fixed-form problems quickly, with one right answer. It rewards speed and pattern recognition, not open-ended exploration.
By the time they reach IIT, many students feel they have already “proved themselves”. On campus, everything is again a race: CGPA, internships, foreign offers, highest packages. Friends and family talk more about salary figures than about what problems someone is working on.
In such a culture:
- Few people want to take a project that might fail.
- Slow progress in hardware or research looks risky.
- Trying a different path feels dangerous if it doesn’t pay off quickly.
So even brilliant students often avoid the toughest technical fields, not because they cannot do them, but because these fields do not match the “fast success” story that everyone around them believes in.
4. Ego vs. Long-Term Craft
There is also a softer, human problem. From school onwards, IIT toppers are told they are the “best”. They are used to getting high marks and being praised.
Deep engineering is hard on this kind of identity. In embedded and chip design, you feel like a beginner again. You have to ask basic questions, accept mistakes, and be wrong many times before you are right.
Some IITians do handle this well, but many naturally prefer roles where they can look smart from day one. This slowly pushes them away from long, slow, technical craft work, and toward jobs where their existing skills already shine.
5. Weak R&D Support in the Country
Even when some graduates want to do serious research, the national R&D ecosystem is not strong enough yet. The Department of Science & Technology’s R&D Statistics at a Glance 2022–23 reports that India’s gross expenditure on R&D is about 0.64% of GDP (DST, 2023).6 Many advanced countries spend between 2% and 4% of GDP on R&D.
Low R&D spending means:
- Fewer world-class labs
- Limited modern equipment in many institutes
- Not enough long-term, stable research jobs
The government has launched the India Semiconductor Mission and related schemes to support chip fabs, design and electronics manufacturing (MeitY / ISM, 2024).7,8 These are important and positive steps, but they are new and still growing. It will take time before they feel like safe, large-scale career paths for fresh graduates.
6. Proof That IITians Can Build Deep Tech
The issue is not ability. For example, IIT Madras’ Incubation Cell reports that it has incubated over 500 startups, mostly deep-tech, with a combined valuation of over ₹53,000 crore, and more than 700 patents and 11,000 direct jobs (IIT Madras, 2025).9
Many IIT alumni also work in leading chip companies, research labs and deep-tech firms abroad. So the talent is clearly there. The problem is not “IITians are not capable”. The problem is:
The system tells them that fast, visible success is more valuable than slow, deep engineering work.
7. What Needs to Change
If India wants more IITians in embedded systems, semiconductors and serious R&D, we do not need to change.We need to change what we reward and highlight. Some ideas:
- Celebrate hard technical projects, not just salary numbers.
- Give respect to those who choose long-term research.
- Make it normal to fail in genuine experiments and still be valued.
- Invest steadily in labs, tools and industry–academia partnerships, not only in new buildings and rankings.
Once that happens, the same IIT students who now rush toward software and consulting will find it logical to choose embedded systems, semiconductors and other deep-tech work. The talent is ready. The incentives are not.
IIT does not suffer from a shortage of brainpower.
It suffers from what that brainpower is taught to chase.
The day we change that story, IITians will not only get high packages – they will also build the hard technology that India imports today.
References
1. IIT Bombay (2024) Placement & Internship Report 2023–24. Available at: https://campus.placements.iitb.ac.in/static/docs/placement_report_2023_24.pdf
2. IIT Bombay (2023) Placement & Internship Report 2022–23. Available at: https://campus.placements.iitb.ac.in/static/docs/placement_report_2022_23.pdf
3. CareerKaptain (2025) ‘View Placement Details of IIT Delhi’. Available at: https://www.careerkaptain.com/colleges/iit-delhi/placement
4. IIT Delhi (2025) ‘UG Students at IIT Delhi Secure 850 Unique Offers to Date, Highest in Last Three Years’. Available at: https://home.iitd.ac.in/show.php?id=670&in_sections=News
5. NASSCOM (2025) Technology Sector in India: Strategic Review 2025. Overview available at: https://nasscom.in/knowledge-center/publications/technology-sector-india-strategic-review-2025
6. Department of Science & Technology (DST) (2023) Updated R&D Statistics at a Glance 2022–23, Government of India. PDF available at: https://dst.gov.in/sites/default/files/Updated%20RD%20Statistics%20at%20a%20Glance%202022-23.pdf
7. India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) (2024) ‘Home’. Available at: https://www.ism.gov.in/
8. Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) (2024) ‘SemiconIndia futureDESIGN – Design Linked Incentive Scheme’. Available at: https://www.ism.gov.in/future-design
9. IIT Madras (2025) ‘IIT Madras Incubation Cell Crosses 500-startup Milestone’. Available at: https://www.iitm.ac.in/happenings/press-releases-and-coverages/iit-madras-incubation-cell-crosses-500-startup-milestone
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