Which one should I prefer, NIT Bhopal for CSE or NIT Calicut for CSE?

A friend of mine used to be a student of NIT Bhopal and I can give you some insights based on his experiences.

• Faculty: In terms of faculty, the less you expect from them the better. You will be entirely left to fend for yourselves. Even if the labs are more or less okay, you will have to approach a faculty for making use of the facilities and learn on your own.
• Attendance: It is not mandatory for the students to maintain a certain percentage of attendance. Having an attendance of 40-50% would be enough. A lot of the students who were in my friend’s batch completed the program through PDF files.
• Labs: If you are not smart enough to learn on your own then the labs will not be of much help to you. The scenario is changing now however and the students are being forced to go to the labs. 
• Projects: If you are passionate about development then it will probably get a huge blow as researches oriented programs are only accepted at NIT Bhopal. The institute wants to publish more and more of its research papers in its name for career development. If you do not submit your research paper at the end of your project, your grades will be negatively affected.
• Placements: Speaking about the placements, it’s good for CSE. All the cons of the institute do not take a toll on the impressive placement record of NIT Bhopal.
• Coding culture: The competitive programming at NIT Bhopal will bring you in contact with some of the best coders of the institute. The atmosphere also promotes healthy competition.

Apart from all these pros and cons, you will get ample time to prepare for competitive exams like CAT, UPSC, GMAT, GRE, etc.