Top 10 NID in India 2025: Admission, Fees, Courses, Specialization, Placements, Top Recruiters & Salary
The NID (National Institute of Design) is one of the most prestigious design schools in India. The institute has been established to bring revolution to the design education in the country. The NID produces world-class designers who redefine creativity. NID is known for the global opportunities, and has become the dream destination for aspiring designers.
The NID is one of the top design institutions of India. This institute offers undergraduate courses in BDes and postgraduate courses in MDes programmes. The candidates aspiring to get admissions to NIDs will have to sit for the Design Aptitude Test (DAT). This entrance exam assesses skills in designing and aptitude.Go through the page below for the top 10 NID colleges in India. You can also read the eligibility criteria, courses offered, fee structure, etc. offered at the NIDs.
The NID entrance test is expected to be held in the first week of January 2026. Candidates who aspire to become a part of this institution will have to apply for the NID entrance exam 2026 through the official portal.
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The graduating students of National Institute of Design are reported to have been placed in good companies. Check out the table below to know more about National Institute of Design placement statistics:
Particulars | Placement Statistics (2024) |
|---|---|
No. of Students Registered | 686 |
No. of Offers | 476 |
the highest Package | INR 36 LPA |
the lowest Package | INR 3 LPA |
There is no official detail available related to the alumni. As per the data sourced from unofficial sites, the list of recruiters where the NID Ahmedabad alumni are placed is presented below:
| NID Ahmedabad Alumni Placements: Top Companies | |
|---|---|
| Flipkart | Amazon |
| Zomato | Winzo |
| IBM | TCS |
| Reliance Retail | Microsoft |
- Top 10 NID Colleges in India: Eligibility Criteria 2025
- Top 10 NID Colleges in India: Courses Offered, Specialization and Tuition Fee
- Top NID Colleges in India: Admission Process 2025
- Top NID Colleges in India: Salary, Top Recruiters
- Top NID Colleges in India: BDes Courses Offered
- Top NID Colleges in India: MDes Courses Offered
- Top NIDs in India: Seat Intake
- NIDs Placements: Top Job Profiles
- Top NIDs in India: Previous Year Cut Off
- NID DAT 2025 - Admission Category
- What is the NID Entrance Exam?
Top 10 NID Colleges in India: Eligibility Criteria 2025
Find the eligibility crieteria for the BDes and MDes courses below:
| Course | Eligibility |
|---|---|
| BDes | Candidates should have either completed their Class 12 from a recognized board such as CBSE, ISC, or State Boards. |
| MDes | Applicants must have a Bachelor’s degree with a minimum duration of 4 years in any specialization. |
| PhD in Design | Candidates must hold a Master’s degree in design or a related field from a recognized university. |
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Top 10 NID Colleges in India: Courses Offered, Specialization and Tuition Fee
Among the top 10 NID colleges in India, some of them are mentioned below along with their courses offered and tuition fees:
| Top 10 NIDs in India |
Establishment Year |
Courses Offered |
Specialization Offered |
Tuition Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 |
Animation Film Design, Exhibition Design, Film & Video, Graphic Design, Ceramic & Glass Design, Product Design, Textile Design |
BDes: INR 18 Lakh MDes: INR 15 Lakh |
||
| 2004 |
Apparel Design, Lifestyle Accessory Design, New Media Design, Photography Design, Toy and Game Design, Transportation and Automobile Design, etc. |
INR 13 Lakh – INR 15 Lakh |
||
| 2006 |
Retail Experience, Digital Game Design, Information Design, Interaction Design, and Universal Design, etc. |
INR 15 Lakh |
||
| 2019 |
Industrial Design, Communication Design, Textile and Apparel Design, etc. |
INR 8 Lakh – INR 11 Lakh |
||
| 2015 |
Industrial Design, Communication Design, Textile and Apparel Design, etc. |
INR 8 Lakh |
||
| 2016 |
Industrial Design, Communication Design, Textile and Apparel Design, etc. |
INR 13 Lakh |
||
| 2019 |
Industrial Design, Communication Design, Textile and Apparel Design, etc. |
INR 8 Lakh |
Top NID Colleges in India: Admission Process 2025
Aspirants will have to sit for the NID Design Aptitude Test (NID DAT) to get admission to the NID colleges in India. The step-wise admission process for NID DAT 2025 is given below, starting from application submission to the allotment of seats:
- Fill out the Application Form - Eligible candidates will have to duly fill out the form and submit it before the last date. Use only genuine and verifiable information for filling out the form. Note that all information will be checked at the time of NID DAT counseling and seat allotment.
- Download Admit Card - On the day of the exam, the candidate will have to bring with them the admit card and a valid photo ID proof.
- Appear in DAT Prelims - DAT Prelims will be conducted offline as a paper-and-pen(pencil) exam. The full details of the DAT Prelims exam pattern will be outlined in the admit card.
- Check DAT Prelims Result - The results for DAT Prelims can be checked by entering one's email address, date of birth, and roll number/application number. DAT Prelims scores will be used to shortlist candidates for DAT Mains.
- Download DAT Mains Admit Card - All registered candidates will be issued admit cards that have to be downloaded online. After downloading the admit card, take a printout of the admit card.
- Appear for NID DAT Mains - DAT Mains will comprise a Studio Test; M.Des candidates will also have to appear in an online interview round. In the studio test for NID admissions, aspirants are given hands-on practical assignments, which they need to complete within the stipulated time.
- Check NID DAT Final Result - DAT Prelims and NID DAT Mains performance are considered to prepare the FINAL results. Note that the final result or merit rank will be considered for the admission or seat allotment process.
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Top NID Colleges in India: Salary, Top Recruiters
Listed below are the NID top colleges in India along with their description, courses offered, their placement package, etc.
| Colleges | Average Placement Package | Notable Recruiters |
|---|---|---|
| NID Ahmedabad Placement | INR 21 LPA |
Wipro, Whirlpool, Cognizant, HUL, Infosys, Microsoft, etc. |
| NID Gandhinagar Placement | INR 46 LPA |
Microsoft, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Borosil, etc. |
| NID Bangalore Placement | INR 36 LPA | Nalli Silk, Oracle, Nokia, Tanishq, Tata Enterprise, Wipro, Trident Group, etc. |
| NID Bhopal Placement | INR 12 LPA | Adidas, Amazon, Adobe, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Wipro, Designhill, etc. |
| NID Vijayawada Placement | INR 12 LPA | Adidas, Amazon, Adobe, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Wipro, Designhill, etc. |
| NID Haryana Placement | INR 9 LPA |
Deloitte, Accenture, TCS, OnePlus, Apple, Adani Group, etc. |
| NID Jorhat Placement | INR 8 LPA | Adobe, Ashok Leyland, Axis Bank, Myntra, Wipro, Microsoft, Trident Group, etc. |
Top NID Colleges in India: BDes Courses Offered
The number of students placed during NID Ahmedabad placements 2024 has not been released yet, However the number of offers provided has been released. Check the table below to know more:
Particulars | Placement Statistics (2024) |
|---|---|
No. of Students Registered | 686 |
No. of Offers | 476 |
A fluctuating trend can be observed in the highest packages recorded at NID Ahmedabad. In 2024 the highest package stood at INR 36 LPA. Refer to the table below to know more:
Particulars | Placement Statistics (2022) | Placement Statistics (2023) | Placement Statistics (2024) |
|---|---|---|---|
the highest Package | INR 46 LPA | INR 30 LPA | INR 36 LPA |
The number of offers provided during National Institute of Design Placements was 476. In the last three years the number of offers have been decreasing year after year. Check out the data tabulated below to know more:
Particulars | Placement Statistics (2022) | Placement Statistics (2023) | Placement Statistics (2024) |
|---|---|---|---|
No. of Offers | 702 | 620 | 476 |
BDes is a long 4-year Bachelor's design programme offered at NID Ahmedabad. NID Vijayawada, NID Haryana, etc., in various specializations like:
- Faculty of Industrial Design
- Faculty of Communication Design
- Faculty of Textile
- Apparel Design
- Lifestyle & Accessory Design
- Ceramic & Glass Design
Top NID Colleges in India: MDes Courses Offered
MDes is a 2.5-year programme offered at NID Ahmedabad, NID Bangalore, and NID Gandhinagar. The course is offered in various areas of specializations like:
- Faculty of Communication Design
- Faculty of Industrial Design
- Faculty of Interdisciplinary Design
- Faculty of IT Integrated Design
- Faculty of Textile, Apparel
- Lifestyle and Accessory Design
Top NIDs in India: Seat Intake
The table below shows the top NID institutes in India along with their BDes and MDes seat intake:
| Top NIDs in India |
BDes Seat Intake |
MDes Seat Intake |
|---|---|---|
| 125 |
347 |
|
| 425 |
126 |
|
| 95 |
95 |
|
| 86 |
- |
|
| 75 |
- |
|
| 75 |
- |
|
| 75 |
- |
NIDs Placements: Top Job Profiles
National Institute of Design is known for its high quality education along with placement opportunities to its students. Many top companies of India participate in placement drive conducted at NIDs across the country. Some of the companies that provide job opportunities to NID students are Microsoft, Trident, Adobe, Mindtree, etc. The average salary offered is 4.9 LPA and the highest salary offered is 18 LPA. Here we have listed the top job profiles one can pursue after completing thier education in Animation and Design.
| NID Job Profiles | |
|---|---|
| Graphic designer | Advertising & promotions manager |
| User experience (UX) designer | Fashion designer |
| Interior designer | Exhibit & Display Designer |
| Multimedia artist & animator | Architectural Designer |
| Motion Graphics Designer | Furniture Designer |
| Art director | Textile Designers |
Top NIDs in India: Previous Year Cut Off
To know the cutoff for the top NID colleges in India, click on the links below:
NID DAT 2025 - Admission Category
Admission to the NID-participating colleges is open to the following categories:
| Seat Category |
|---|
| Open |
| General- Economically Weaker Section (GEN-EWS) |
| Other Backward Class- Non-Creamy Layer (OBCNCL) |
| Schedule Caste (SC) |
| Schedule Tribe (ST) |
| Open—Persons with Disability (PwD) |
| Other Backward Class- Non-Creamy Layer— Persons with Disability (OBC-NCL-PwD) |
| Schedule Caste —Persons with Disability (SC-PwD) |
| Schedule Tribe—Persons with Disability (ST-PwD) |
What is the NID Entrance Exam?
The National Institute of Design conducts the NID entrance exam for admission to the various courses offered at the NID Institute. The entrance exam for NID will be held for admission to the B.Des and M.Des courses. The Bachelor of Design (BDes) course will open up a wide area of the design industry to the students, such as textile design, apparel design, industrial design, and communication design etc. The NID 2026 exam pattern defines how the structure of the exam, such as students being asked both textual and visual questions, the exam will be divided into Part 1 and Part 2, etc. The NID exam will be conducted for the duration of three hours, and there will not be any negative marking.
To prepare for the NID exam, candidates must go through the previous year's exam papers and deeply understand the paper structure and the kind of questions asked. The syllabus of NID entrance exam may include topics such as Design theory, Optical illusion, Elements and principles of design, Lettering, Good design vs. bad design, etc.
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The complete placement report is yet to be released for the academic year 2022-2023. Once the average package offered during NID Ahmedabad placements 2023 is released, it will be updated here. Meanwhile, check out the NID Ahmedabad average package offered during the 2019 placement drive:
Particulars
Placement Statistics (2019)
Average package
INR 14 LPA
Note: The average package mentioned above has been taken from the NID Ahmedabad annual report 2020.