GATE 2026: Top Underrated Branches that can lead to High Paying Careers after MTech
Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering 2026 ( GATE )
Exam On - 14 Feb '26
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GATE Most Underrated Branches that lead to high-paying careers: Many students who are appearing for GATE exam always incline for popular streams like CS, EC, EE, CE, and ME. With 30 GATE papers, there are certain branches which are known to be hidden gems, which means that they can lead to high-paying careers. Want to know in depth? Read article below.
GATE 2026 most underrated branches that lead to high-paying careers: We all know that GATE is one of the most prestigious exam in India. However, out of 30 subjects, most aspirants move towards the popular streams like computer science, electronics, mechanical etc. While these branches have high scopes, but there are other branches out there that offer amazing job profiles, research options and lucrative salaries. So, in this article we have discussed about the most underarated GATE branches that lead to high-career paying opportunities.
GATE Most Underrated Branches that can lead to High-Paying Careers
Candidates can check below the most underrated GATE branches that have attractive career prospects and exciting research opportunities in the upcoming years.
GATE Instrumentation Engineering
Why is it underrated?
No, JEE exams are not mandatory for BSc admissions at IIT Madras. Candidates who wish to take admissions into the BSc course at IIT Madras must appear for IISER entrance examination. The admissions into IIT Madras BSc courses are decided on merit basis where, the scores obtained by candidates in the IISER entrance exam are taken into account to decide the admissions.
Yes, IIT Delhi offers a few PG Diploma courses for DMRC and Indian Navy-sponsored candidates.
This branch is often overshadowed by GATE EE (electrical engineering). However, GATE IN is an indisciplinary field that blends the subjects and concepts of electronics, control systems and measurements.
GATE Instrumentation Engineering Career Scope and Opportunities -
Appearing and qualifying in GATE IN can get aspirants jobs in oil, gas, power plants, and in many manufacturing industries. Also, students can opt for PSU jobs with a GATE score above 700. If someone is willing to make a career in research, then they have great scope in automation, robotics, etc.
Emerging Fields in Instrumentation Engineering -
Here are some emerging fields that candidates can consider in instrumentation engineering -
- renewable energy, smart manufacturing, and biomedical instrumentation. Considering the GATE two paper combination facility, students can take the benefit and get into a global recognised career in the Green economy, sustainability goals, etc.
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IITs that offer GATE IN programmes
- IIT Kharagpur, offer MTech in instrumentation and integrated electronics with an average placement salary package of 43 LPA
- IIT Roorkee offers MTech in instrumentation and signal processing
GATE Instrumentation Engineering Cutoff
As per the last year GATE stats, GATE expected cutoff can be ranged between 23 to 25 (for the general category) and 17 to 20 (for the reserved category). Also, around 11935 candidates appeared for the GATE 2025 exam out of 14680 registered applicants in GATE IN.
GATE IN Average Salary Insights
- Aspirants can expect an average salary ranging from 6 to 43 LPA.
- IIT Kharagpur had the top package of 43 LPA, for firms like Yokogawa and Honeywell
Also read:
- How to get a job in FAANG companies through GATE: Check insights
- What is the salary of a GATE topper in a month?
- What is a good rank in GATE for IITs, NITs, and PSUs
GATE Environmental Science and Engineering (ES)
Why it's underrated?
GATE ES is quite new to field, however due to emerging debate on making a climate-conscious world, the course has several career opportunities. GATE ES is super underrated and hidden career prospects in higher studies and research.
GATE Environmental Science Career Scope and Opportunities
- Aspirants can get into government organisations like NHAI, ESG Firms, and MoEFC
- Candidates willing for research work roles can get into IITs, IISc, and NITs for research sectors in climate change, pollution control, and water management
- Also get into consultancy jobs with firms working in ESG (Environmental, Social, and Goverance) compilance
Emerging Fields in Environmental Science and Engineering
- Sustainable resource management, smart pollution control using AI, climate challenge, etc.
IITs that offer MTech programmes in GATE ES
IIT Delhi offers PG Diploma course in D.I.I.T (Naval Construction) and Metro Rail Transport: Technology and Management.
Yes, IIT Bombay offers a four-year BTech in eight specialisations. Admission to these programmes is based on merit in JEE Advanced. Only the students who pass JEE main can take the advanced exam. The aspirants who furher meet the cutoff criteria can participate in JoSAA counselling.
All the BTech specialisations offered by IIT Bombay are enlisted below:
- Aerospace Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Computer Science & Engineering
- Metallurgical Engineering & Materials Science
- Engineering Physics
- Civil Engineering
Yes, IIT Bombay offers MSc for two-years. The PG-level course is available in seven specialisations, including Chemistry, Biotechnology, Applied Geology, Applied Geophysics, Mathematics, Physics, Applied Statistics & Informatics. Moreover, the institute also offers MSc + PhD (dual degree) course in three specialisations including Environmental Science & Engineering, Operations Research, Energy Science & Engineering.
- IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay offer MTech in Environmental Science
GATE Environmental Science and Engineering Cutoff
- GATE cutoff ranges between 23-26 (for the general category) and 17-18 (for the reserved category), as per the last year
- 6631 candidates appeared for the GATE 2025 exam out of 9073
💸 GATE Environmental Science Engineering Salary Insights
- Salary typically range from 6 LPA to 16 LPA (depending on skills and experience)
GATE Engineering Sciences (XE)
Latest Updates: IIT Guwahati has introduced a new paper under GATE Engineering Sciences for GATE 2026, called Energy Science. The paper code is XE (I).
Why it is underrated?
Many aspirants neglect GATE XE thinking that it has no value due to its curriculum and paper combinations. However, GATE XE can be termed as a versatile subject with many career opportunities in ME, MTech, and research field.
GATE Engineering Sciences Career Scope and Opportunities
- Students can get into fields like materials science, nanotech and polymer technology which have high scopes in future.
- Many PSUs like DRDO and BARC offers careers in research and development.
- Students have also opportunity to get into research-based scholarships and higher education abroad (GATE accepted score universities)
GATE XE Emerging Fields
Aspirants can get into research and innovations in solar, thermal energy, industrial robotics, nanodevices, etc.
IITs that offer MTech in Engineering Science through GATE
- IIT Bombay, IISc Bangalore, IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Guwahati are some of them.
- Other institutions like NIT Trichy, Jadavpur University offer MTech in Engineering Sciences
GATE Engineering Sciences (XE) Cutoff Scores
Based on the last year stats and previous year trends, the GATE XE cutoff mostly ranges between 31 to 26 for general category and 23 to 24 for reserved category. Last year, 11156 candidates appeared the GATE exam out of 14937.
GATE Engineering Sciences Average Salary
- Entry-level salaries for GATE-qualified in XE can range from 4 to 8 LPA in public and private sectors depending on skills and experience.
- However, in PSUs, students can expect a salary range between 20 to 32 LPA (again, depending on skill set and experience) with perks and benefits.
| Here's a bonus tip: Qualifying GATE XE can be easier due to low compeition and with smart subject selection, students can lead to high-career paying jobs. |
Also read:
Why Choosing an Underrated Branch Might be a Smarter Decision in GATE 2026?
- Less Competition, Higher Ranks- Very less candidates appear for these GATE papers, thus there are high chances of getting a good rank in GATE exam
- Interesting Career Opportunities- These streams are quite niche, hence less crowd of students with more career options and opportunities
- Research-Focused Future- If you are interested in getting into research field, then these underrated GATE branches can be the best option for you
So, if you’re preparing for GATE 2026 or 2027, try exploring its benefits and career prospects.
Upasana Pradhan is an Mtech graduate in Electronics and Communication Engineering from DTU who specialises in curating postgraduate and undergraduate engineering entrance exam content, such as GATE, TS PGECET, KCET,
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 22 hours ago
Yes, it is expected that the GATE 2026 cutoff may increase compared to last year, for the following reasons -
Increase in the number of registered applicants.
Difficulty level of the question paper
Inclination towards newer branches, such as Data Science, Machine Learning, Quantum Tech, etc.
Due to the
S
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 22 hours ago
The highest GATE cutoff score for NIT M.Tech admission typically ranges from 800 to 850 in the first round. Some of the top NITs include NIT Surathkal, NIT Trichy, and NIT Warangal, accept admissions with GATE score 800 above for branches like EC, CS, ME, and EE.
Qualified candidates have to register
P
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 22 hours ago
Based on the past-year's records and experts analysis, it is expected that the average expected cutoff for GATE exam 2026 can fall somewhere between 28 to 37 for general category, 26 to 28.3 marks for OBC-NCL/EWS category, and 27 -31 for SC/ST category.
The above cutoff mark can vary for each paper
A
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 22 hours ago
Indian Institute of Technology will release GATE cutoff 2026 along with result. The IITG GATE 2026 result date is March 19. The conducting body will declare the exam result and cutoff for all 30 subjects. The cutoff for GATE 2026 will be available category-wise. Candidates securing the minimum cutof
S
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 23 hours ago
40 marks in GATE will approximately give a rank between 2000 to 5000 depending on the paper difficulty level and the number of registered candidates in that particular branch. Obtaining 40 marks is mainly considered average, opening chances to a few new IITs (less popular branches) and NITs.
However
U
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 23 hours ago
The cutoff score in GATE is the minimum mark required to qualify for the exam. The conducting body releases the qualifying cutoff along with result. It determines, whether a candidate is eligible to participate in the counselling round or not.
The cutoff score in GATE varies every year (category-wis
B
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 3 days ago
The GATE 2026 question paper difficulty level of all subjects will be available after the completion of exam. In addition, students will also get an idea about chapter-wise weightage and important topics asked in major papers like GATE CSE, ME, EC, EE, DA, XE, etc.
H
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 5 days ago
No, GATE questions are not exactly repeated. However, the concept, core, and question format may remain the same. Therefore, candidates must focus on concept-building and practice GATE PYQs as many times as possible. In addition, solve mock test paper to improve accuracy and time management.
A
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 5 days ago
Yes, GATE has negative marking for Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) only. In GATE question paper, MCQs will be of one and two marks. Hence, the marking scheme for such questions can be checked below -
- For one mark MCQ - 1/3rd mark will be deducted
- For two mark MCQ - 2/3rd mark will be deducted
S
Contributor-Level 7
Answered a week ago
NHCE Bangalore accepts GATE score for admission to M.Tech programme. However, it is not compulsory. Aspirants can also get into M.Tech course based on their Karnataka PGCET scores. Selected candidates have to confirm their seat by paying the course fees.
N
Guide-Level 15
IIT Bombay is one of the top Engineering institute in the country. It is ranked by various bodies. National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) has ranked IIT Bombay, #3 in the "Engineering" category. BTech is the flagship programme of the institute. Moreover, the institute also offers MBA programme. IIT Bombay is also well-known for its Management course. It has secured #10 position in the NIRF 2024 rankings in the Management category.