Which is better: IIIT Allahabad or NIT Rourkela?

IIIT Allahabad is hands down the better institute if you are looking for a career in CS/IT.

IIIT Allahabad focuses specifically on the software and IT departments (only 4 departments; Applied Science, ECE, IT, and DMS) while NIT Rourkela has a vast and diverse set of departments ranging from core subjects such as Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics to engineering departments such as mechanical, ECE, CS, and even Ceramic and Food Processing Engineering. The table below will give you a more concrete comparison between the two institutes.

• Course Structure - In IIIT Allahabad complete 4 years devoted to only subjects related to IT and computer science. In NIT Rourkela the first year is generic and you need to study subjects such as Engineering Drawing, Chemistry, etc. which are of no use.
• Infrastructure - In IIIT A labs, classrooms, hostels, internet connectivity are all in much better shape than NIT Rourkela. All the basic facilities are here.
• College Life -
  • IIITA has less number of students but students are from all over India, thus higher regional diversity. It has fewer clubs to choose from. 
  • NIT Rourkela has more students and more branches. 50% of the seats are reserved for the state students, so less diversity than at IIITs. Also, it has more clubs with a lot more diversity to suit your specific interests.

Apart from that, the coding culture of IIIT Allahabad is far ahead of even many IITs, so no comparison here. The professors here are actively involved in various robotics, computer vision, and natural language processing researches, so students will get ample opportunities for the same. As for the professors themselves, you will get both good and bad faculty at both institutes.

So, if you are more inclined towards computer science, then IIIT Allahabad is a clear choice.