Best Engineering Colleges in Pathankot - 2026 Admission, Fees, Placements

There are about 150+ best Engineering colleges in Punjab. Among these, 113 colleges are privately owned, 37 colleges are owned by public/government organisations, and public-private entities own 3 BTech colleges. JEE Main, CUET, etc. are some of the widely accepted entrance exams in top private Engineering colleges in Punjab. Some of the popular colleges include Thapar University, Chandigarh University, IIT Ropar, LPU, National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Chitkara University, Chandigarh, Chandigarh Group of Colleges, Landran, and many others.

Hi, IIT Ropar emerged as the No. 1 BTech college in Punjab followed by other colleges. Listed below are some colleges along with their NIRF ranking over the past three years, i.e. from 2022 to 2024:

Joining the top BTech colleges in Pubjab can be worthwhile for you. For that, you need to check its ROI. Listed below are some colleges along with their tuition fees and average placement package:

Candidates looking forward to pursuing a BTech course must fulfill the requirements laid down by the colleges. Aspirants who meet the eligibility conditions can apply for the course. Check below the common eligibility criteria for admission to the top BTech colleges in Punjab:

• Candidates must have earned a passing grade in Physics,  Chemistry, and Mathematics in the Class 12 exam with a minimum of 60% marks from a recognised board. 
• For admissions, candidates must take standard entrance exams like JEE Main, CUET, etc. and other university-specific entrance exams in addition to their Class 12 results.

Yes, JEE Main exam has negative marking. 1 mark is deducted for every incorrect answer.

Artificial Intelligence is a broad and expansive subject which machine learning is a part of. Mimicking human intelligence is the end goal of any AI module. ML has a smaller more limited scope. It is a subset of AI, that helps AI achieve its goal by building trained algorithms and software that can work without explicit prompts.

The scope of AI & ML is limitless. The major recruiters are from the healthcare, e-commerce, finance and defense, along with many more sectors. Countries like US, UK, Germany and Japan offer a high employability rate for roles in many technology-based areas. The average salary for US, UK, Germany and Japan for the role of AI & ML Engineer is $1L/yr, £44K/yr, €58K/yr, and JP¥75.2L/yr respectively.

AI & ML courses are a stepping stone to the diverse and enormous field of Artificial Intelligence. They educate students in the art of creating systems that analyse extensive datasets, automate decision making and work towards real world problem solving. Gaining a degree in AI & ML offers a greater chance at high paying employment in this tech first economy.

As per NIRF 2025 rankings, CU is ranked 31 under the 'Engineering' category (better than IIT Ropar which was ranked #32 under NIRF'25 Engineering category) and managed to improve its position from the last year's ranking, which was 32 in the year 2024. 

In terms of the placements, below is what the Engineering students received:

• The highest international and domestic packages offered during CU placement 2025 was INR 170 LPA and INR 54.75 LPA, respectively, to BTech students of CSE & IT branches.
• While for other branches, such as Mechanical, Aerospace, Mechatronics & Automobile, the highest salary offered was INR 9 LPA. 
• The highest package offered to the students of Civil, Petroleum & Chemical Engineering branches went up till INR 15 LPA.
• For EE & ECE, the placements drive wrapped up with a highest package of INR 10 LPA. 

Beyond placements, the university is also known for incubating over 250 start-ups out of which 50 have a turnover of over 50 lakh. 

To conclude, it is evident that CU is a great option for Engineering aspirants if you're willing to pursue CSE & IT branches, however, for other non-IT branches, the placements are decent but not as great as the CS & IT branches. 

The total fee for BTech range from INR 4.5 lakh -INR 36 lakh. The fee is calculated based on the semester fee.  Admission to BTech course is based on LPUNEST or CUET UG score. After completion of the selection rounds, shortlisted aspirants need to pay the course fee to confirm their admission. Candidates are first required to register with an application fee for LPUNEST. The exam fee for LPUNEST is INR 1,000 for males and INR 500 for females.

Every year, NTA conducts the JEE Main entrance exam for the selection of eligible candidates in IIT, NIT and IIITs. The admission process for JEE Main 2026 (session 1) registrations has been completed. JEE Main 2026 session 1 exam was held from January 21 to 30, and session 2 will be held from April 2 to 9.  January 21 to 30.

The below table contains a comparison of NIT Jalandhar with other NITs based on parameters such as course fee and NIRF ranking for BTech:

*This information is sourced from the official website/ sanctioning body and is subject to change. Students are requested to visit the official website to get more details on the same.

I think both SLIET and SMVDU are reputed institutes for B.Tech in India.

• SMVDU is better than SLIET for placement and facilities
• The package range of SLIET is INR 4 TO 19 Lakh.
• The package offered at SMVDU is INR 4.5 to 25 Lakh.
• The growth rate offered at SMVDU roughly 30%, 10% is SLIET.