A combined competitive examination is conducted by the UPSC for recruitment to the Indian Engineering Services (IES).

The test is conducted in June every year at centres across India, namely: Agartala, Ahmedabad, Aizwal, Allahabad, Bangalore, Bareilly, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cuttack, Delhi, Dharwar, Dispur (Guwahati), Gangtok, Hyderabad, Imphal, Itanagar, Jaipur, Jammu, Jorhat, Kochi, Kohima, Kolkata, Lucknow, Madurai, Mumbai, Nagpur, Panaji (Goa), Patna, Portblair, Raipur, Sambalpur, Shillong, Simla, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Tirupati, Udaipur and Vishakapatnam.

However, the commission may alter this list of centres. Recruitment to Group - A Services / Posts and Group - B Services / Posts are made under the following categories of Engineering:

CATEGORY I - CIVIL ENGINEERING
CATEGORY II - MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
CATEGORY III - ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
CATEGORY IV - ELECTRONICS & TELECOMMUNICATION ENGG.
 

• Indian Railway Service of Engineers
  
• Indian Railway Stores Service (Civil Engineering posts)
  
• Central Engineering Service
  
• Military Engineer Service (IDSE - Building and Roads cadre)
  
• Military Engineer Service (Surveyor of Works cadre)
  
• Survey of India Service, Group - A (Civil Engineering posts)
  
• Central Water Engineering Service (Civil Engineering posts)
  
• Central Engineering Service (Roads), Group - A, (Civil Engineering posts)
  
• Assistant Executive Engineer (Civil) in Border Roads Engineering Service, Group - A
  
• Indian Ordnance Factories Service (Engineering Branch) (Civil Engineering posts)

• Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers
  
• Indian Railway Stores Service (Mechanical Engineering posts)
  
• Central Water Engineering Service (Mechanical Engineering posts)
• Central Power Engineering Service (Mechanical Engineering posts)
• Indian Ordnance Factories Service (Engineering Branch) (Mechanical Engineering posts)
  
• Indian Naval Armament Service (Mechanical Engineering posts)
  
• Military Engineer Service (IDSE - Electrical and Mechanical Cadre) (Mechanical Engineering posts)
  
• Central Electrical & Mechanical Engineering Service (Mechanical Engineering posts)
  
• Assistant Executive Engineer (Electrical and Mechanical) (Mechanical Engineering posts) Border Roads Engineering Service, Group - A
  
• Drilling Engineer (Junior) Group - A in Geological Survey of India
  
• Central Engineering Service (Roads), Group - A, (Mechanical Engineering posts)

• Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers
  
• Indian Railway Stores Service (Electrical Engineering posts)
  
• Central Electrical & Mechanical Engineering Service (Electrical Engineering posts)
  
• Indian Ordnance Factories Service (Engineering Branch) (Electrical Engineering posts)
  
• Indian Naval Armament Service (Electrical Engineering posts)
  
• Central Power Engineering Service (Electrical Engineering posts)
  
• Military Engineering Service (IDSE - Electrical and Mechanical Cadre) (Electrical Engineering posts)
  
• Assistant Executive Engineer Group - A (Electrical Engineering posts) in the Corps of E.M.E., Ministry of Defence

• Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers
  
• Indian Railway Stores Service (Telecommunication / Electronics Engineering posts)
  
• Engineer in Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing / Monitoring organisation; Ministry of Communication (Department of Telecommunications)
  
• Indian Ordnance Factories Service (Engineering branch) (Electronics Engineering posts)
  
• Indian Naval Armament Service (Electronics Engineering posts)
  
• Central Power Engineering Service (Telecommunications Engineering posts)
  
• Survey of India Service, Group - A, (Electronics and Telecom Engineering posts)
  
• Assistant Executive Engineer, Group - A, (Electronics Engineering posts) in the Corps of E.M.E., Ministry of Defence

A candidate may apply for admission to all or any of the Services / Posts mentioned. The current number of vacancies is approximately 500 and is liable to alteration.

• An Engineering graduate from a University incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be a Deemed University under section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956; or

• Passed Sections A and B of the institutional examinations of the Institution of Engineers (India); or
  
  

• A Degree / Diploma in Engineering from such foreign University / College / Institution and under such conditions as may be recognised by the Government for the purpose from time to time; or

• Passed the Graduate Membership Examination of the Institute of Electronics and Telecommunications Engineers (India); or
  

• Passed Associate Membership Examination Parts II and III / Sections A and B of the Aeronautical Society of India; 
  or

• Passed Associate Membership Examination (Sections A and B) of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (India); or

• Passed the Graduate Membership Examination of the Institution of Electronics and Radio Engineers, London, held after November, 1959.

• A candidate for the posts of Engineer, Group - A, in Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing / Monitoring Organisation, Ministry of Communications and Indian Broadcasting (Engineers) Service (Electronics Engineering posts) may possess any of the above qualifications or the qualification of an M.Sc degree or its equivalent with Wireless Communications, Electronics, Radio Physics or Radio Engineering as a special subject.

• Candidates who have appeared for a qualifying examination and are awaiting results may also apply provided proof of having passed the said examination is produced after qualifying in the Written Paper of the IES test. Till such time, the admission will be considered provisional.

• Candidates with equivalent qualification other than those given above or with a degree from a foreign university may be admitted at the discretion of the commission.
  

 
(i) Nationality - A candidate must be either of the following:

1. a citizen of India, or

2. a subject of Nepal, or

3. a subject of Bhutan, or

4. a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before January 1, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or

5. a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Burma,Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Vietnam, Zaire or Zambia with the intention of permanently settling in India.
   
   Candidates belonging to either of the categories of b., c., d., or e., must produce an eligibility certificate issued by the Government of India.

(ii) Age Limit

1. The candidate's age must lie between 21 and 30 years on August 1 of the year of examination. The upper age limit is relaxed by 5 years for SC/ST candidates and by 3 years for OBC candidates.

2. Further, the age limit is relaxed in the case of others, some of which are:

   • By 5 years for candidates ordinarily domiciled in Jammu & Kashmir during January 1, 1980 to December 31st, 1989.

   • By 3 years for defence personnel disabled during hostilities with a foreign country or in a disturbed area and consequently released.

   • By 5 years for ex-servicemen including Commissioned Officers and ECOs / SSCOs fulfilling certain criteria.

   • By 10 years for blind, deaf-mute and orthopaedically handicapped persons. Details regarding the extent of relaxation for departmental candidates and others are specified by the UPSC in their notification.

(iii) Physical Standards - Candidates must ensure that they satisfy the physical standards that are mentioned in the Rules for the Engineering Services Examination published in the Gazette of India on January 27, 2001.

 

 
The examination is conducted in two stages:

(i) Written Test (1000 marks).
(ii) Interview (200 marks).

Written Test: The entire format can be summarised as follows:

The standard of the questions is approximately on the level of an Engineering Degree Examination of an Indian University with both sections covering the entire syllabus of the respective Engineering disciplines. The medium of Conventional Papers is English only.

Interview : This is to assess the personality of those who obtain minimum qualifying marks in the Written Examination. Subsequently, successful candidates are appointed to the services according to merit, based on their aggregate marks.