In line with the spirit of National Educational Policy (NEP 2020), IIT Kharagpur has scrapped the branch change option and introduced double major, minor specialization and a semester away programme (SAP) in the undergraduate programmes starting from the 2024-25 academic session.

The institute also announced that admission to all UG programmes will be for four-year, B.Tech and BS levels only while students will get the opportunity to choose five-year dual degree programmes after the second or third year. The students can now opt for a dual degree programme in their parent department based on their interest and suitability, or they can also go for the Interdisciplinary Dual Degree Programmes (IDDP) offered by several schools and centres of the institute. “The Double Major programme is expected to attract a large number of brilliant students to pursue studies in an area of their interest apart from the basic programme in which they take admission. It is hoped that they can do this without much mental stress as they can complete their B.Tech (Hons)/BS (Hons) programme along with Double Major in 4 to 5 years depending upon their course completion plan,” said Prof. V K Tewari, Director IIT Kharagpur.