IIT Bombay prepares food for 1200 students using waste

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay) is transforming garden leaves into fuel for cooking, providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 2000 people and reducing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumption by 60%.

India imports about 60% of its LPG, much of which passes through the Strait of Hormuz—one of the world's most unstable choke points. If supplies are disrupted, millions of kitchens could be left without gas. This raises the question of how Hostel 16 cafeteria at IIT Bombay prepares lunches for 1200 students using leaf granules instead of gas cylinders.

The company Infixen, funded by IIT Bombay, converts two tons of garden waste collected on campus daily into clean cooking fuel. Previously, the institute spent 50 lakh rupees annually just on the removal of this waste; now, this waste is used to feed students and staff.

The process of the plant and the cafeteria is detailed in the 'Solved in India' program from The Better India, demonstrating how this transformation occurs.

According to data published by the Career Development Centre of IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, the employment rate for 2026 students was lower compared to the previous year. In 2025, 87.61% of students found jobs, whereas in 2026, this figure stood at 73.64%, representing a decrease of 13.97 percentage points.

During this recruitment cycle, 1882 students from various programs were registered. However, only 1487 of them actively participated in the hiring process. As a result, companies offered jobs to 1095 students, while 392 students who participated did not receive a job offer. Among those who could not find employment, 157 are studying B.Tech.

It is noted that only two students managed to secure a government position. The highest number of job offers was made in Core Engineering, where about 486 students received offers. Out of the total 1095 employed students, 248 were female and 847 were male. The largest number of female students found employment in B.Tech (158), M.Tech (32), and MBA (26).

Some programs demonstrated higher employment rates. All students with a B.Tech Double Major and Dual Degree B.Tech-M.Tech found employment. The employment rate in the MBA program reached 93.44%. Additionally, 81.42% of B.Tech students and 80.26% of Integrated M.Tech students were able to get employed through campus placements. Rates were lower in other programs: M.Tech – 57.88%, M.Sc – 50%, and M.Sc Tech – 48.61%.

During campus recruitment, 276 students received offers with an annual compensation exceeding 20 lakh rupees. 424 students secured jobs with an annual salary ranging from 10 to 20 lakh rupees. The remaining 392 students received packages from 6 to 10 lakh rupees annually. The overall average annual CTC for the institute's students was 16.63 lakh rupees.

By program, the highest average annual CTC was recorded in the B.Tech-M.Tech Dual Degree program, where the average package was 31.07 lakh rupees. The average CTC for B.Tech Double Major was 26.78 lakh, and for Integrated M.Tech was 25.65 lakh. The average package for B.Tech students was 18.02 lakh rupees. In M.Sc Tech, this figure was 13.71 lakh, in MBA – 11.64 lakh, in M.Tech – 11.08 lakh, and in M.Sc – 9.16 lakh rupees.

By specialization, Mineral and Metallurgical Engineering showed the best employment result in B.Tech with 100% employment. Computer Science Engineering reached 89.86%, and Mechanical Mining Machinery achieved 88.57%. Mechanical Engineering showed a level of 85.71%. Other specializations include Electronics and Communication Engineering with 80.49%, Engineering Physics with 79.17%, and Environmental Engineering with 74.07%. Petroleum Engineering had a rate of 72.37%, Chemical Engineering – 68.57%, and Civil Engineering – 57.78%. Mining Engineering showed an employment rate of 81.61%.