IIITDM Kancheepuram Admission Through GATE: M.Tech in Data Science and AI, PhD

The institute's address is Melakottaiyur, Off Vandalur-Kelambakkam Road, Chennai 600127. It is an Institute of National Importance under the Ministry of Education, set up in 2007 with a focus on design and manufacturing, and its PhD brochure describes the motto as "Learning by Doing". The 2026 spot-admission notice gives directions: about 24.9 km from Chennai airport, by train to Tambaram and then bus 515, 515A or 515B along the Vandalur-Kelambakkam Road to the Kandigai stop. If you are also choosing a GATE exam centre, see the Chennai city page.

For a GATE DA or CS candidate the menu is short. The Department of Computer Science and Engineering runs a single M.Tech, titled Computer Science and Engineering with Specialization in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (the reporting checklist abbreviates it CSE-DSAI). The institute has no separate general CSE M.Tech and no separate AI M.Tech. The other M.Tech programmes in 2026 were three Electronics and Communication specialisations (Communication Systems, Microelectronics and VLSI Systems, RF and Microwave Engineering) and two Mechanical ones (Intelligent Mechanical Systems Design, Smart Manufacturing).

The institute is fully residential. The spot notice says students must stay in the hostel unless the Dean (Students' Affairs) permits otherwise.

The institute's PG admissions page lists "M.Tech Admissions 2026 (CCMT)". You register and fill choices on the CCMT portal, which in 2026 accepted GATE scores from 2024, 2025 and 2026. IIITDM does not run its own M.Tech application for regular GATE seats.

The institute's July 2026 note to allotted candidates shows what happens after a seat is allotted:

1. Candidates from the regular rounds, special rounds and the National Spot Round of CCMT 2026 were all handled the same way.
2. You register on the institute portal with your GATE registration number and upload one merged PDF of documents (up to 10 MB), including the CCMT seat allotment letter, the online document verification certificate and your GATE scorecard.
3. You pay the balance fee online. In 2026, GEN/EWS/OBC-NCL candidates had paid ₹40,000 during CCMT counselling and paid ₹68,496 at reporting; SC/ST/PwD candidates had paid ₹15,000 and paid ₹43,496.
4. CSE-DSAI candidates reported physically on 6 August 2026 at the Exhibition Hall (old library hall). Orientation was on 10 August and classes began on 11 August 2026.

The contact named for allotted candidates in 2026 was the centre in-charge, Dr. Srijith K (srijith@iiitdm.ac.in).

The CCMT 2026 seat-mapping table for IIITDM Kancheepuram's Department of Computer Science and Engineering lists four combinations, all in Group 1:

GATE paper	Qualifying degree
Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DA)	B.E./B.Tech. in any discipline
Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DA)	4-year B.S. in Data Science and Applications
Computer Science and Information Technology (CS)	B.E./B.Tech. in any discipline
Computer Science and Information Technology (CS)	4-year B.S. in Data Science and Applications

Two things follow from this. A GATE DA taker with a mechanical, civil or electrical B.Tech. is eligible on paper, because the degree column reads "any of the disciplines". And DA and CS candidates sit in the same group, so they compete on one merit list for the same seats.

The same table in the spot-admission brochure also lists DA and CS among the papers accepted for the Mechanical Engineering M.Tech with Specialization in Smart Manufacturing. That programme is outside computing, but it is a second CCMT choice open to a GATE CS or DA score at this institute.

CCMT publishes a "Maximum and Minimum GATE Score" report for each round. These are the highest and lowest GATE scores (out of 1000) among candidates allotted this programme, as printed. CCMT reports one figure per group, so DA and CS candidates are combined and the report does not say which paper each score came from.

Round	Category	Max	Min
Round 1	OPEN	589	533
Round 1	EWS	518	504
Round 1	OBC-NCL	530	487
Round 1	SC	395	383
Round 1	ST	369	337
National Spot Round	OPEN	488	480

The OPEN minimum kept falling after Round 1: the same report prints 518 for Round 2 and 510 for Round 3. A score near these numbers does not guarantee a seat in a later year, since the figures move with the number of applicants and the choices they lock.

After the CCMT and special rounds, IIITDM ran an institute-level spot admission for vacant M.Tech seats. The 2026 notice (dated 2 June 2026) invited both GATE-qualified and non-GATE candidates. Selection was based on qualifying-degree marks and a written examination "based on the GATE syllabus".

Event (2026)	Date
Application portal opened	15 June
Applications closed	10 July
Written test (report by 8:30 am)	16 July
Results	2nd week of August

• Eligibility: a B.E./B.Tech. or equivalent in a listed discipline, with at least 6.5 CGPA or 60% (GEN/EWS/OBC) or 6.0 CGPA or 55% (SC/ST/PwD).
• Fee: no application fee.
• Exclusion: anyone already admitted to IIITDM through CCMT 2026 could not take part.
• Money: only candidates holding a valid GATE score at admission get the Half-Time Teaching Assistantship. Those admitted without one get no financial assistance, even if they qualify GATE later.

Applications went through admissions.iiitdm.ac.in/Mtech_Spot_Admission. Treat this as a fallback, not a plan.

The fee table in the 2026 note to CCMT candidates lists:

Item	Amount
One-time fees	₹5,000
Semester fees (tuition ₹50,000 plus other charges)	₹55,000
Medical insurance (per year)	₹500
Hostel and mess advance (per semester)	₹47,996
First-semester total for a hosteller	₹1,08,496

Tuition is ₹50,000 a semester in the first year and ₹60,000 a semester in the second. SC/ST students are exempt from tuition irrespective of parental income, which is why their total in 2026 was ₹58,496. The table notes that dining charges may vary with the tender.

The January 2027 PhD brochure names GATE DA directly for CSE. Its eligibility rules for the department include:

• A master's in CSE, computer engineering, IT, AI, machine learning, data science, cyber security or related areas.
• An M.Sc. in mathematics, statistics, computer science, data science, IT or software engineering (or M.Stat and similar) with CGPA 8 or above and a valid GATE score in CS or DA. With GATE MA, ST, PH, EC, EE or IN instead, you must take the department's written test on CSE fundamentals.
• An M.E./M.Tech. in ECE, Smart Manufacturing, instrumentation or electrical engineering requires the same written test, unless you hold a valid GATE CS or DA score.
• Direct PhD after a B.E./B.Tech.: CGPA 8.0 from a centrally funded technical institute, or CGPA 8.0 plus a valid GATE score from any other institute.

Shortlisted candidates face a written test and/or interview. For the January 2027 session, applications run from 13 October to 4 November 2026, with CSE tests and interviews on 7 December 2026. No application fee is charged. Scholars in the HTRA category receive ₹37,000 a month in years one and two and ₹42,000 in years three to five, subject to the conditions in the brochure. CSE research areas listed range from machine learning, computer vision and generative AI to cryptography, theoretical computer science and hardware for AI.

M.Tech queries: pgadmission@iiitdm.ac.in, 044 2747 6323 (the spot notice's closing line also gives pgadmissions@iiitdm.ac.in). PhD queries: phdadmission@iiitdm.ac.in. Announcements, shortlists and brochures are posted on the PG and PhD admission pages, and seat allotment itself happens on CCMT.

Since one score can be either paper, choose the one you will score higher in. Start with the GATE DA preparation guide or the GATE CSE preparation guide, and work through previous papers. Other South Indian institutes are listed on the institutes page.