IIT Hyderabad Placements 2026: check average package, highest package (₹2.5 Cr), top recruiters, eligibility, and important dates

When a final-year student walks out with an offer of ₹2.5 crore a year, the whole campus talks about it for weeks. That’s exactly what happened at IIT Hyderabad in early 2026, when a Computer Science student bagged the highest package in the institute’s history. But a single headline number rarely tells the full story of how a placement season is actually going.

If you’re a prospective student, a parent doing the math on JEE preparation, or a current IITH student tracking your own placement season, you need more than one statistic. You need the average package, the spread across branches, the recruiter list, and the dates that actually matter.

In this guide, you’ll get a clear, data-backed breakdown of IIT Hyderabad Placements 2026 — including the average package, highest package, branch-wise trends, top recruiting companies, eligibility rules for placement registration, and the key dates for the season. Everything here is based on the official Phase 1 placement report released by the institute, along with year-on-year comparisons so you can judge the trend, not just the headline.

Table of Contents

1. IIT Hyderabad Placements 2026: Quick Overview
2. Average Package 2026
3. Highest Package 2026
4. Branch-Wise Placement Trends
5. Top Recruiters at IIT Hyderabad 2026
6. Placement Eligibility Criteria
7. Important Dates for Placement Season 2026
8. Year-on-Year Placement Comparison (2023–2026)
9. Internship Offers 2026
10. Tips to Improve Your Placement Chances
11. Common Mistakes Students Make During Placements
12. Latest Trends in IIT Hyderabad Placements
13. Key Takeaways
14. Conclusion
15. FAQs

IIT Hyderabad Placements 2026: Quick Overview

IIT Hyderabad’s placement process for the 2026 graduating batch runs in two phases. Phase 1 has already concluded, and its report gives us the clearest early picture of the season. Phase 2 is ongoing and is expected to wrap up after April 2026.

Here’s the snapshot from the Phase 1 report:

• Average package: ₹30 LPA
• Highest international package: ₹2.5 crore (₹250 LPA)
• Highest domestic package: ₹1.58 crore (₹158 LPA)
• Students placed so far: 304 out of 487 registered BTech students
• International offers: 24, from 15 international recruiters
• Internship offers (2027 batch): 279, with the highest monthly stipend at ₹7.5 lakh

Keep in mind this is Phase 1 data. Final numbers will shift once Phase 2 concludes, but the direction is already clear: 2026 is shaping up to be IIT Hyderabad’s strongest placement season yet.

Average Package 2026

The average package after Phase 1 stands at ₹30 LPA, a jump of roughly 44% compared to the ₹20.81 LPA average recorded in 2025. That’s a meaningful increase, not just a statistical blip, and it reflects stronger demand across core engineering and computing roles.

A word of caution here: average package figures released mid-season tend to be skewed upward because top recruiters (who offer higher salaries) typically visit early in the placement calendar. Mid-range offers usually come in during later phases, which can bring the final average down slightly once Phase 2 numbers are added.

Still, even accounting for that skew, 2026 is tracking well above the previous three years.

Highest Package 2026

The highest package this year came from Optiver, a Netherlands-based global trading firm, which offered ₹2.5 crore per annum to a final-year CSE student. This is the highest package ever recorded at IIT Hyderabad since the institute was established in 2008 — a jump of more than 278% over 2025’s highest figure of ₹66.13 LPA.

On the domestic side, the highest package touched ₹1.58 crore, and four students received offers between ₹75 LPA and ₹1 crore.

A quick reality check for prospective students: the highest package is newsworthy, but it’s not representative. These offers typically go to a handful of students with strong quantitative or coding profiles, often in high-frequency trading or specialised tech roles. The median and average figures give you a far more realistic picture of what most students actually earn.

Branch-Wise Placement Trends

Not every department performs identically, and that’s normal at any IIT. In 2026, three branches pulled ahead of the pack:

• Artificial Intelligence — average package around ₹40 LPA
• Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) — average package around ₹40 LPA
• Mathematics and Computing — average package around ₹40 LPA

These three departments also recorded placement rates between roughly 78% and 83% in Phase 1, well above the overall institute average. This isn’t surprising — AI, CSE, and Math & Computing graduates are in high demand from quant firms, product companies, and core tech recruiters, all of whom pay a premium for these skill sets.

Branches like Engineering Physics and some core engineering disciplines have historically recorded lower average packages compared to computing-heavy branches — a pattern that has held across the last few placement cycles at IIT Hyderabad and, frankly, at most IITs.

Tip for prospective students: If placement package is a major deciding factor for you, look closely at branch-wise data rather than the institute-wide average. A ₹30 LPA average can hide a ₹40 LPA reality in CSE and a lower figure in less recruiter-heavy branches.

Top Recruiters at IIT Hyderabad 2026

IIT Hyderabad continues to attract a healthy mix of global tech firms, core engineering companies, quant trading firms, and consulting houses. Based on recent and ongoing placement seasons, recruiters at IIT Hyderabad include:

• Google
• Microsoft
• Amazon
• Apple
• Oracle
• Atlassian
• Samsung R&D
• Salesforce
• Goldman Sachs
• DE Shaw & Co.
• PayPal
• Intel
• Flipkart
• Zomato
• Rakuten Mobile (Japan)
• Optiver

The presence of firms like Optiver and DE Shaw signals growing interest from quantitative trading and finance-tech companies, alongside the usual big tech and consulting names. This diversification is good news for students — it means more varied career paths beyond the traditional software developer role.

Placement Eligibility Criteria

Not every student is automatically eligible to sit for campus placements. IIT Hyderabad, like most IITs, applies a set of academic and conduct-based eligibility rules. While exact norms are updated each year by the Career Services / Training and Placement Cell, the general framework includes:

• Minimum CGPA requirement: Students typically need to maintain a minimum CGPA (commonly around 6.0–6.5, though this can vary by year and programme) with no active academic backlogs at the time of registration.
• Registration on the placement portal: Students must register with the placement cell within the notified window and keep their resume and academic details updated.
• One-offer or multi-offer policy: Many IITs, including IITH, follow a policy where students who accept a Pre-Placement Offer (PPO) or a Day 1/Day 2 offer above a certain threshold may be barred from further placement rounds, to give other students a fair shot.
• Attendance and conduct clearance: Students need a clean disciplinary record and adequate attendance to be certified eligible by the institute.
• Dress code and interview conduct: Institutes generally expect formal attire and professional conduct during all recruiter interactions, including pre-placement talks, group discussions, and interviews.

Since these rules can be revised each year, always cross-check the latest eligibility notice on the official IIT Hyderabad placement portal before registering.

Important Dates for Placement Season 2026

Placement timelines at IIT Hyderabad are typically split across two phases:

• Phase 1: Usually begins in early December and runs through the winter months, covering Day 1 and Day 2 recruiters — generally the highest-paying and most competitive companies.
• Phase 2: Continues from January onward and is expected to conclude after April 2026, covering a broader set of recruiters across core, IT services, analytics, and startup roles.
• Internship placements (for the 2027 batch): Run in parallel, typically concluding by early-to-mid placement season, with 279 internship offers already recorded this year.

Because IIT Hyderabad also runs UG and PG admissions cycles (JEE Advanced counselling, GATE-based M.Tech admissions via COAP) around the same period, students should keep placement dates and admission dates separate — they follow entirely different calendars and portals.

Year-on-Year Placement Comparison (2023–2026)

A few honest observations from this table:

• The highest package doesn’t move in a straight line — it dropped in 2025 before jumping sharply in 2026. Don’t extrapolate a single year’s peak into a permanent trend.
• The average package has grown steadily since 2023, which is a more reliable signal of overall placement health than the highest package.
• Placement rate in 2025 dipped compared to 2024, a reminder that more registered students doesn’t always mean a higher placement percentage.

Internship Offers 2026

Beyond final placements, IIT Hyderabad also runs a strong internship program for pre-final year students (the 2027 batch). This year:

• 279 internship offers were made
• Highest monthly stipend: ₹7.5 lakh

Internships matter more than most students realise — a large share of Pre-Placement Offers (PPOs) originate from strong internship performance. If you’re a second or third-year student, a good internship isn’t just resume padding; it’s often your fastest route to skipping the competitive final placement season altogether.

Tips to Improve Your Placement Chances

• Build a portfolio early, not in the final semester. Recruiters in AI/CSE roles increasingly look at GitHub projects, competitive programming profiles, and research publications, not just CGPA.
• Target internships strategically. A strong internship at a company you’d want to work for full-time gives you a real shot at a PPO, bypassing the stress of Day 1/Day 2 placement rounds.
• Don’t ignore core branches. If you’re in a non-CSE branch, look at companies that specifically recruit for your domain (core engineering, analytics, product roles) rather than competing head-on for software roles.
• Practice for quant and technical rounds early. Firms like Optiver and DE Shaw run rigorous quantitative and coding assessments — start preparing at least two to three semesters in advance.
• Track placement cell communications closely. Registration deadlines, mock interview slots, and resume shortlisting windows are often tight; missing one email can cost you a slot with a top recruiter.

Common Mistakes Students Make During Placements

• Chasing the highest package instead of role fit. A high salary in a role you’ll dislike often leads to early attrition and a messy resume down the line.
• Ignoring the one-offer policy. Some students accept an early offer without realising it locks them out of later, potentially better-fitting opportunities.
• Under-preparing for HR and behavioural rounds. Many students over-invest in technical prep and stumble on basic “tell me about yourself” or conflict-resolution questions.
• Not updating academic records on time. A backlog or a missing document can make you ineligible even after clearing interview rounds — always confirm your eligibility status with the placement cell in advance.
• Comparing yourself to outlier packages. The ₹2.5 crore offer is real, but it’s an outlier. Benchmarking your expectations against it usually leads to unnecessary stress.

Latest Trends in IIT Hyderabad Placements

A few clear trends stand out in the 2026 season:

• Quant and trading firms are increasingly active on campus, alongside traditional big tech recruiters — a shift also visible at other top IITs.
• AI and Math & Computing branches are now matching or beating CSE in average package, reflecting industry-wide demand for machine learning and applied math skills.
• International offers remain a smaller but high-value segment — 24 offers in Phase 1 2026, against 53 for the entire 2025 season, suggesting international recruiter activity may pick up further in Phase 2.
• The gap between highest and average package is widening, which is common industry-wide as niche, high-paying roles in quant finance and AI research pull the ceiling higher without lifting the median as fast.

Key Takeaways

• IIT Hyderabad’s Phase 1 2026 average package is ₹30 LPA, up 44% from 2025.
• The highest package this year is ₹2.5 crore, the highest in the institute’s history, offered by Optiver.
• AI, CSE, and Mathematics & Computing lead branch-wise averages at around ₹40 LPA.
• Phase 2 placements are ongoing and expected to conclude after April 2026 — final figures will differ from Phase 1 numbers.
• Eligibility for placements depends on CGPA, no active backlogs, and timely registration with the placement cell.
• Internships for the 2027 batch saw 279 offers, with a top stipend of ₹7.5 lakh a month.

Conclusion

IIT Hyderabad’s 2026 placement season is, by most measures, its strongest yet — a record highest package, a sharply improved average, and growing interest from quant and international recruiters. But the smartest way to read these numbers isn’t to fixate on the ₹2.5 crore headline. It’s to look at the average package, the branch-wise spread, and the placement rate together, since those numbers tell you what a typical student can realistically expect.

If you’re preparing for JEE with IIT Hyderabad on your list, or you’re a current student gearing up for your own placement season, use this data as a starting point — then check the official placement portal closer to your admission or placement cycle, since numbers and policies can shift from year to year.

FAQs

1. What is the average package at IIT Hyderabad in 2026? The average package after Phase 1 of IIT Hyderabad Placements 2026 is ₹30 LPA, up from ₹20.81 LPA in 2025.

2. What is the highest package offered at IIT Hyderabad in 2026? The highest package is ₹2.5 crore per annum (₹250 LPA), offered by Optiver to a final-year CSE student — the highest in IIT Hyderabad’s history.

3. Which branch has the best placement package at IIT Hyderabad? Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science and Engineering, and Mathematics and Computing lead with average packages of around ₹40 LPA each in 2026.

4. Who are the top recruiters at IIT Hyderabad? Top recruiters include Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Oracle, Samsung R&D, Goldman Sachs, DE Shaw & Co., Optiver, Flipkart, and Zomato, among others.

5. What is the eligibility criteria for IIT Hyderabad placements? Students generally need a minimum CGPA with no active backlogs, timely registration with the placement cell, and a clean disciplinary record to be eligible for campus placements.

6. When do IIT Hyderabad placements 2026 conclude? Phase 1 has already concluded. Phase 2 is ongoing and is expected to conclude after April 2026.

7. How many students have been placed at IIT Hyderabad in 2026 so far? As per the Phase 1 report, 304 out of 487 registered BTech students have been placed, with Phase 2 placements still ongoing.