For JEE Mains 2026, the CRL determines the AIR for General category students, whereas the OBC-NCL category students have a reserved OBC category rank list.

  • The qualifying percentile for the general category is expected to be around 93.41%.
  • Whereas, the qualifying cutoff for an OBC category student is estimated to be above 79 and around 82 percentile.
  • There is a 15-30 mark difference in the minimum qualifying marks, which is 85-115 for general students and 70-85 for OBC students, which affects the cutoff ranks.

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OBC vs General Rank JEE Mains 2026

Key Summary

  • The AIR changes according to the students’ categories based on reservation.
  • For a General category student to achieve top 1,500 rank, he/ she must score above 250 marks in JEE Main 2026.
  • Whereas, an OBC student must score above 250 to achieve top 100-500 rank.
  • There is a 15-30 minimum qualifying marks difference between general and ON+BC category students.
  • The minimum qualifying marks for general students is 90-110 and for OBC students is 70-85 marks.
  • The qualifying cutoff rank is 1,00,000-1,05,000 for general category and around 3,00,000 for OBC category students.

JEE Main 2026 OBC vs. General Rank Comparison

The JEE Main 2026 OBC vs. General rank has a high difference in terms of ranking for the same marks.

  • Any score above 280 marks in JEE Main 2026 secures a top 100 rank for General category students, whereas it falls within 1-30 ranks for OBC category.
  • A score below 80-99 is expected to get an AIR of the range 85,000-1,50,000 for the General category and 28,000-50,000 for the OBC category.
Marks (out of 300) Expected CRL Rank Expected OBC Category Rank
270+ 1 - 300 1 -100
250 - 269 300 - 1,000 100 - 300
210 - 249 1,000 - 5,000 300 - 1,500
180 - 209 5,000 - 10,000 1,500 - 3,200
150 - 179 10,000 - 25,000 3,200 - 7,500
120 - 149 25,000 - 50,000 7,500 - 16,000
100 - 119 50,000 - 85,000 16,000 - 28,000
80-99 85,000 - 1,50,000 28,000 - 50,000
JEE Main 2026 OBC vs. General Rank Comparison

Also Check: JEE Main 2026 Rank Predictor Category wise

Ques. How many OBC candidates are there in the JEE Mains 2026?

Ans. For the JEE Mains 2026, there were 1,86,07 female OBC and 3,47,364 male candidates having participated in the exam.

Ques. Is 70 good in JEE Mains 2026 for OBC?

Ans. Yes. Scoring 70 marks or above in JEE Mains 2026 by an OBC student is considered to be good as it qualifies the student to be eligible for JEE Advanced 2026. However, for a general category student, 70 marks is considered to be an average score and it does not qualify them to give JEE Advanced 2026.

Expected Qualifying Cutoff Rank for General and OBC Category in JEE Main 2026

The expected qualifying cutoff rank depends on the percentile. The expected percentile for General category students is higher than OBC, whereas the rank is lower for General than OBC category students.

  • This qualifying determines whether a student is eligible for JEE Advanced 2026.
  • For the General (unreserved) category students, the expected qualifying percentile is 93-95 with a rank range of 1,00,000.
  • The expected qualifying percentile for OBC-NCL students is 79-82 percentile, with a rank range of around 3,00,000.
Category Expected Percentile Qualifying Cutoff Rank
General (unreserved) 93.5 - 95.0 1,00,000 - 1,05,000
OBC-NCL 79.5 - 81.5 ~3,00,000
Expected Qualifying Cutoff Rank for General and OBC Category in JEE Main 2026

Also Check: Expected JEE Main 2026 Qualifying Cutoff After April Session 2

Ques. What will be the cutoff of JEE Main 2026 for OBC?

Ans. The cutoff rank is estimated based on the percentile secured by an individual. For an OBC category student, the cutoff rank is expected to be around 3,00,000. To achieve this rank, a student must score around 70-85 marks which roughly equates to 80-82 percentile.

Expected Safe Scores for NITs (General vs. OBC) in JEE Main 2026

The expected safe score for General category students at NITs is significantly higher than OBC students.

  • For CS/ IT/ AI branches, the safe score is 265-280 for General category students, whereas it is 245-260 for OBC students at tier 1 NITs.
  • At tier 2 NITs, the safe score for the same CS/ IT/ AI branches is 200-220 for General category and 180-205 for OBC category students.
  • The lowest safe score in both General and OBC category is 135-150 and 120-135 respectively, for Civil/ Metallurgy branches in tier 3 NITs.
  • There is a 20-30 mark difference of safe score between general and OBC category students.

Tier 1 NITs (NIT Trichy, NIT Surathkal, NIT Warangal)

Branch General Category (Safe Marks) OBC-NCL Category (Safe Marks)
CS/ IT/ AI 265 - 280 245 - 260
ECE/ EE/ Mechanical 210 - 235 190 - 215
Civil/ Metallurgy 185 - 205 170 -190
Expected Safe Scores for NITs (General vs. OBC) in JEE Main 2026

Tier 2 NITs (NIT Allahabad, NIT Jaipur, NIT Nagpur)

Branch General Category (Safe Marks) OBC-NCL Category (Safe Marks)
CS/ IT/ AI 230 - 250 210 - 230
ECE/ EE/ Mechanical 180 - 205 165 - 185
Civil/ Metallurgy 160 - 175 145 -160
Tier 2 NITs (NIT Allahabad, NIT Jaipur, NIT Nagpur)

Tier 3 NITs (NIT Patna, NIT Raipur, NIT Srinagar)

Branch General Category (Safe Marks) OBC-NCL Category (Safe Marks)
CS/ IT/ AI 200 - 220 185 - 205
ECE/ EE/ Mechanical 155 - 175 140 - 160
Civil/ Metallurgy 135 - 150 120 -135
Tier 3 NITs (NIT Patna, NIT Raipur, NIT Srinagar)

Check the JEE Main cutoff 2026 for different NITs below:

NIT Trichy JEE Main Cut off NIT Jaipur JEE Main Cut off
NIT Surathkal JEE Main Cut off NIT Silchar JEE Main Cut off
NIT Rourkela JEE Main Cut off NIT Nagpur JEE Main Cut off
NIT Warangal JEE Main Cut off NIT Durgapur JEE Main Cut off
NIT Calicut JEE Main Cut off NIT Jalandhar JEE Main Cut off

Ques.How much percentile is required for NIT OBC?

Ans. An OBC category student must score at least above 120 marks which equates roughly around 80 percentile to get into tier 3 NITs for Civil and Metallurgical engineering branches. However, a score below 120 can still get admitted into newer low tier NITs for low demand courses.

Also Check: JEE Main 2026 Safe Score for Top NITs Revealed

Estimated Closing Ranks for NITs (General vs. OBC) in JEE Main 2026

The estimated closing ranks for General category students at NITs is significantly higher than OBC students.

  • For CS/ IT/ AI branches, the closing rank is 700-1,500 for General category students, whereas it is 200-500 for OBC students at tier 1 NITs.
  • At tier 2 NITs, the closing rank for the same CS/ IT/ AI branches is 3,500-6,000 for General category and 1,000-1,800 for OBC category students.
  • The lowest closing rank in both General and OBC category is 45,000-60,000 and 14,000-19,000 respectively, for Civil/ Metallurgy branches in tier 3 NITs.
  • The closing rank is higher for General category students as the OBC students are already benefitted in terms of ranking.
  • While general category students follow the CRL and experience lower percentiles, for the same score, OBC students get higher percentiles, leading to higher ranking for general and lower ranking for OBC students.

Tier 1 NITs (NIT Trichy, NIT Surathkal, NIT Warangal)

Branch General Category (Closing Rank) OBC-NCL Category (Closing Rank)
CSE 700 - 1,500 200 - 500
ECE 3,000 - 5,000 900 - 1,500
Civil/ Mechanical 12,000 - 22,000 3,500 - 6,500
Estimated Closing Ranks for NITs (General vs. OBC) in JEE Main 2026

Tier 2 NITs (NIT Allahabad, NIT Jaipur, NIT Nagpur)

Branch General Category (Closing Rank) OBC-NCL Category (Closing Rank)
CSE 3,500 - 6,000 1,000 - 1,800
ECE 8,000 - 12,000 2,500 - 4,000
Civil/ Mechanical 25,000 - 35,000 7,500 - 11,000
Tier 2 NITs (NIT Allahabad, NIT Jaipur, NIT Nagpur)

Tier 3 NITs (NIT Patna, NIT Raipur, NIT Srinagar)

Branch General Category (Closing Rank) OBC-NCL Category (Closing Rank)
CSE 12,000 - 20,000 3,500 - 6,000
ECE 22,000 - 30,000 7,000 - 9,500
Civil/ Mechanical 45,000 - 60,000 14,000 - 19,000
Tier 3 NITs (NIT Patna, NIT Raipur, NIT Srinagar)

Also Check: JEE Mains Category Wise CutOff 2026