There are many aspects to this answer. If you are from South India then go for NIT Calicut. It has a reputation for good placement records. Here are the placement statistics for both NIT Calicut and VNIT Nagpur. Parameters  NIT Calicut  VNIT Nagpur  Average CTC  11.58 LPA  3.3 LPA  Highest CTC  49 LPA  22 LPA  Major recruiters  HDFC, Nokia, AESL, Bosch, etc.  FCA, Goldman Sachs, L&T Infotech, etc.  If you are not from South India, then choose according to your convenience. Don’t choose Calicut over Nagpur as it is not an easy place to live in for four years. If you like a lot of alone time then Calicut will be suitable for you. Nagpur is in central India. So, you will have easy connectivity to your home town. VNIT is located in the middle of the city. You will enjoy your stay there.  Both are good institutes. Choose according to the proximity.

I have got a few of my close friends studying in these institutes, here are some points according to their experience. Campus & Facilities- IIIT Lucknow being a new campus needs time to fully function and for good sports facilities. IIT Guwahati has a permanent campus and welly developed sports facilities. Infrastructure- Labs of IIIT Guwahati are well established and all the types of equipment you need for practicals and research are there. Location- The IIIT Lucknow area is being developed so you will only find rubble there while near the IIITG construction of IT Park will boost the internships and placements of IIITG. At IIIT Guwahati you will gain good industrial knowledge other than the academic part. Placements- CSE at IIIT Guwahati has good placements than IIIT Lucknow. Recent Statistics: Particulars IIIT Lucknow IIIT Guwahati NIT Nagpur Highest salary 43.3 LPA 17 LPA 22 LPA Average salary 18.4 LPA 10.2 LPA 3.3 LPA Placement percentage 100% 76% - Total fees INR 10 lakhs INR 9 lakhs INR 5 lakhs CSE at IIIT Guwahati is a better option because of the placements and permanent campus.

One of my friends is an alumnus of NIT Surathkal and was in awe of it since the beginning of his academic program. That institute is better than most in terms of campus life, placement, rank, and other essential parameters. It has a 90% placement rate in 2020 and ranks #13 on the NIRF ranking portal. Despite its excellence, my friend used to say that if you have a choice available, don’t go for NIT. Over the years it will come to your notice that the whole system is a scam, and although it has excellent facilities and good basics it's really overhyped. You'll find that any other good engineering college will have equal or better opportunities for you. If you can, try taking admission to a university that supports your dreams, which is the right fit for you - do not opt by just checking the placement rates. As it is untrue. Another friend of mine was in the third year of chemical engineering in NIT Nagpur and felt as if he did not gain any technical knowledge after studying for three years. This is something overlooked by most 'excellent' universities across India and they do not allow students to question it. Therefore, if you have a better option available- go for that, not any NIT.

My cousin recently enrolled in NIT Hamirpur and definitely loves the state-of-the-art facilities. It provides and its modern infrastructure. It has excellent facilities in its 320 acres area which includes a computer centre, a library with over 100,000 books, an auditorium, a guest house, sports grounds, solar heaters, hostels, gym, and of course- lifts. NIT Hamirpur has a lift facility in the departments which offer UG programs. Some more lifts have been added in some of the newly built hostels which are for students in the second year and beyond, much Iike NIT Nagpur has a lift in the new academic block and the new hostel. Another point here, the New Hostels are for girls and boys in the first year, only.

NIT Surathkal is ranked 13 in India for BTech by NIRF 2020. Whereas, NIT Nagpur is ranked 27 for the same by NIRF 2020. NIT Nagpur also ranks 3rd in Maharashtra by NIRF 2020 and has collaborated with many industries and R&D organizations. As the courses in the question are not the same it is tough to evaluate which institute will be better. Here is some of the important information about the two courses which may help you in making the decision.  Categories NIT Surathkal NIT Nagpur  No. of seats 73 92 Course Fee INR 1.51 LPA INR 1.49 LPA Cutoff 8980 3307-5289 Average package INR 14.15 LPA INR 6.2 LPA Admission: NIT Surathkal: The mechanical department at NIT Surathkal has produced over 4500 mechanical engineers graduates across the nation. It offers a BTech program for Mechanical. The essential eligibility criteria for admission is 10+2 in the science stream, with a minimum of 75% aggregate.  The candidates’ selection is based on the JEE Main score, and the seats are allocated through JoSAA counseling. NIT Nagpur: CS department at NIT Nagpur has well-qualified, motivated support staff and faculty members. Admission to the BTech CS program at the institute is based on the marks obtained in JEE Main.  The final selection is based on the JoSAA counseling round.  Placements: The placement average for NIT Surathkal is 100%, whereas at NIT Nagpur the placement rate is 85%. The highest CTC received by the students of NIT Surathkal is INR 39 LPA. The highest CTC offered at NIT Nagpur was 52 LPA. The top recruiters for mechanical at NIT Surathkal are Tata Group, Godrej, L&T, Thermax, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Ashok Leyland, General Motors, etc. The top recruiters for CS at NIT Nagpur are Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Infosys, Dell, Deloitte, Capgemini, Thermax, ZS Associates, etc. In terms of industry trends, CSE is in more demand than Mechanical engineering. Both the NITs are reputed and offer decent academics along with good placement opportunities. However, you should choose the stream in which you are more interested.