IES (Indian Engineering Services) Exam 2025 - Notification, Eligibility, Important Dates, Syllabus and more

The examination of the UPSC ESE (IES) for recruitment to the services/posts is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), in accordance with the Rules published by the Ministry of Communications, Department of Telecommunications in the Gazette of India Extraordinary. The full form of IES is Indian Engineering Service.

Recruitment Categories of IES Exam

Recruitment on the results of this examination will be made to the Services/Posts under the following categories:

• Category I - Civil Engineering
• Category II - Mechanical Engineering
• Category III - Electrical Engineering
• Category IV - Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering

The number of vacancies to be filled on the results of the examination is expected to be approximately 167, including 5 vacancies for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD). The number of vacancies is liable to alteration. Reservations will be made for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Economically Weaker Section (EWS), as well as Persons with Benchmark Disability Category in respect of vacancies as may be fixed by the Government of India.

Notification for the examination will be released on official website.

Nationality

A candidate must be either:

• a citizen of India, or
• a subject of Nepal, or
• a subject of Bhutan, or
• a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
• a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka or East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, and Ethiopia or from Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

Age Limit

A candidate for IES examination must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 30 years on the 1st January 2025, i.e., he/she must have been born not earlier than 2nd January 1994 and not later than 1st January 2004.

The upper age-limit of 30 years will be relaxable up to 35 years in the case of Government servants of the following categories, if they are employed in a Department/Office under the control of any of the authorities mentioned below and apply for admission to the examination for all or any of the Service(s)/post(s) mentioned below, for which they are otherwise eligible:

• A candidate who holds substantively a permanent post in the particular Department/Office concerned. This relaxation will not be admissible to a probationer appointed against a permanent post in the Department/Office during the period of his probation. However, this relaxation will be admissible to a probationer so appointed provided he/she already retains a lien on a permanent post in a Department/Office under the control of any of the authorities mentioned.
• A candidate who has been continuously in a temporary service on a regular basis in the particular Department/Office for at least 3 years on the 1st January 2024.

IES (Indian Engineering Services) Exam 2025 sllaybus is given below:

Paper - I

Building Materials:

Stone, Lime, Glass, Plastics, Steel, FRP, Ceramics, Aluminum, Fly Ash, Basic Admixtures, Timber, Bricks, and Aggregates: Classification, properties, and selection criteria; Cement: Types, Composition, Properties, Uses, Specifications, and various Tests; Lime Cement Mortars and Concrete: Properties and various Tests; Design of Concrete Mixes: Proportioning of aggregates and methods of mix design.

Solid Mechanics:

Elastic constants, Stress, plane stress, Strains, plane strain, Mohr's circle of stress and strain, Elastic theories of failure, Principal Stresses, Bending, Shear, and Torsion.

Structural Analysis:

Basics of strength of materials, Types of stresses and strains, Bending moments and shear force, concept of bending and shear stresses; Analysis of determinate and indeterminate structures; Trusses, beams, plane frames; Rolling loads, Influence Lines, Unit load method, and other methods; Free and Forced vibrations of single degree and multi-degree freedom system; Suspended Cables; Concepts and use of Computer Aided Design.

Design of Steel Structures:

Principles of Working Stress methods, Design of tension and compression members, Design of beams and beam column connections, built-up sections, Girders, Industrial roofs, Principles of Ultimate load design.

Design of Concrete and Masonry Structures:

Limit state design for bending, shear, axial compression, and combined forces; Design of beams, Slabs, Lintels, Foundations, Retaining walls, Tanks, Staircases; Principles of pre-stressed concrete design including materials and methods; Earthquake-resistant design of structures; Design of Masonry Structures.

Construction Practice, Planning, and Management:

Construction - Planning, Equipment, Site investigation, and Management including Estimation with the latest project management tools and network analysis for different Types of works; Analysis of Rates of various types of works; Tendering Process and Contract Management, Quality Control, Productivity, Operation Cost; Land acquisition; Labour safety and welfare.

Paper - II

Flow of Fluids, Hydraulic Machines and Hydro Power:

(a) Fluid Mechanics, Open Channel Flow, Pipe Flow: Fluid properties; Dimensional Analysis and Modeling; Fluid dynamics including flow kinematics and measurements; Flow net; Viscosity, Boundary layer and control, Drag, Lift, Principles in open channel flow, Flow controls. Hydraulic jump; Surges; Pipe networks.

(b) Hydraulic Machines and Hydro power: Various pumps, Air vessels, Hydraulic turbines - types, classifications, performance parameters; Power house - classification and layout, storage, pondage, control of supply.

Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering:

Hydrological cycle, Ground water hydrology, Well hydrology and related data analysis; Streams and their gauging; River morphology; Flood, drought and their management; Capacity of Reservoirs. Water Resources Engineering: Multipurpose uses of Water, River basins and their potential; Irrigation systems, water demand assessment; Resources - storages and their yields; Water logging, canal and drainage design, Gravity dams, falls, weirs, Energy dissipaters, barrage Distribution works, Cross drainage works and head-works and their design; Concepts in canal design, construction, maintenance; River training, measurement and analysis of rainfall.

Environmental Engineering:

(a) Water Supply Engineering: Sources, Estimation, quality standards and testing of water and their treatment; Rural, Institutional and industrial water supply; Physical, chemical and biological characteristics and sources of water, Pollutants in water and its effects, Estimation of water demand; Drinking water Standards, Water Treatment Plants, Water distribution networks.

(b) Waste Water Engineering: Planning and design of domestic waste water, sewage collection and disposal; Plumbing Systems. Components and layout of sewerage system; Planning and design of Domestic Waste-water disposal system; Sludge management including treatment, disposal and re-use of treated effluents; Industrial waste waters and Effluent Treatment Plants including institutional and industrial sewage management.

(c) Solid Waste Management: Sources and classification of solid wastes along with planning and design of its management system; Disposal system, Beneficial aspects of wastes and Utilization by Civil Engineers.

(d) Air, Noise pollution and Ecology: Concepts and general methodology.

Geo-technical Engineering and Foundation Engineering:

(a) Geo-technical Engineering: Soil exploration - planning and methods, Properties of soil, classification, various tests and interrelationships; Permeability Seepage, Compressibility, consolidation and Shearing resistance, Earth pressure theories and stress distribution in soil; Properties and uses of geo-synthetics.

(b) Foundation Engineering: Types of foundations, selection criteria, bearing capacity, settlement analysis, design and testing of shallow and deep foundations; Slope stability analysis, Earthen embankments, Dams and Earth retaining structures: types, analysis and design, Principles of ground modifications.

Surveying and Geology:

(a) Surveying: Classification of surveys, various methodologies, instruments and analysis of measurement of distances, elevation and directions; Field astronomy, Global Positioning System; Map preparation; Photogrammetry; Remote sensing concepts; Survey Layout for culverts, canals, bridges, road/railway alignment and buildings, Setting out of Curves.

(b) Geology: Basic knowledge of Engineering geology and its application in projects.

Transportation Engineering:

Highways - Planning, construction methodology, Alignment and geometric design; Traffic Surveys and Controls; Principles of Flexible and Rigid pavements design. Tunneling - Alignment, methods of construction, disposal of muck, drainage, lighting and ventilation. Railways Systems - Terminology, Planning, designs and maintenance practices; track modernization. Harbours - Terminology, layouts and planning. Airports - Layout, planning and design.

Mechanical Engineering

Paper - I

Fluid Mechanics:

Basic Concepts and Properties of Fluids, Manometry, Fluid Statics, Buoyancy, Equations of Motion, Bernoulli's equation and applications, Viscous flow of incompressible fluids, Laminar and Turbulent flows, Flow through pipes and head losses in pipes.

Thermodynamics and Heat transfer:

Thermodynamic systems and processes; properties of pure substance; Zeroth, First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics; Entropy, Irreversibility and availability; analysis of thermodynamic cycles related to energy conversion: Rankine, Otto, Diesel and Dual Cycles; ideal and real gases; compressibility factor; Gas mixtures. Modes of heat transfer, Steady and unsteady heat conduction, Thermal resistance, Fins, Free and forced convection, Correlations for convective heat transfer, Radiative heat transfer - Radiation heat transfer coefficient; boiling and condensation, Heat exchanger performance analysis.

IC Engines, Refrigeration and Air conditioning:

SI and CI Engines, Engine Systems and Components, Performance characteristics and testing of IC Engines; Fuels; Emissions and Emission Control. Vapour compression refrigeration, Refrigerants and Working cycles, Compressors, Condensers, Evaporators and Expansion devices, Other types of refrigeration systems like Vapour Absorption, Vapour jet, thermo electric and Vortex tube refrigeration. Psychometric properties and processes, Comfort chart, Comfort and industrial air conditioning, Load calculations and Heat pumps.

Turbo Machinery:

Reciprocating and Rotary pumps, Pelton wheel, Kaplan and Francis Turbines, velocity diagrams, Impulse and Reaction principles, Steam and Gas Turbines, Theory of Jet Propulsion - Pulse jet and Ram Jet Engines, Reciprocating and Rotary Compressors - Theory and Applications.

Power Plant Engineering:

Rankine and Brayton cycles with regeneration and reheat, Fuels and their properties, Flue gas analysis, Boilers, steam turbines and other power plant components like condensers, air ejectors, electrostatic precipitators and cooling towers - their theory and design, types and applications.

Renewable Sources of Energy:

Solar Radiation, Solar Thermal Energy collection - Flat Plate and focusing collectors their materials and performance. Solar Thermal Energy Storage, Applications - heating, cooling and Power Generation; Solar Photovoltaic Conversion; Harnessing of Wind Energy, Bio-mass and Tidal Energy - Methods and Applications, Working principles of Fuel Cells.

Paper - II

Engineering Mechanics:

Analysis of System of Forces, Friction, Centroid and Centre of Gravity, Dynamics; Stresses and Strains-Compound Stresses and Strains, Bending Moment and Shear Force Diagrams, Theory of Bending Stresses- Slope and deflection-Torsion, Thin and thick Cylinders, Spheres.

Engineering Materials:

Basic Crystallography, Alloys and Phase diagrams, Heat Treatment, Ferrous and Non Ferrous Metals, Non metallic materials, Basics of Nano-materials, Mechanical Properties and Testing, Corrosion prevention and control.

Mechanisms and Machines:

Types of Kinematics Pair, Mobility, Inversions, Kinematic Analysis, Velocity and Acceleration Analysis of Planar Mechanisms, CAMs with uniform acceleration and retardation, cycloidal motion, oscillating followers; Vibrations - Free and forced vibration of undamped and damped SDOF systems, Transmissibility Ratio, Vibration Isolation, Critical Speed of Shafts. Gears - Geometry of tooth profiles, Law of gearing, Involute profile, Interference, Helical, Spiral and Worm Gears, Gear Trains- Simple, compound and Epicyclic; Dynamic Analysis - Slider - crank mechanisms, turning moment computations, balancing of Revolving and Reciprocating masses, Gyroscopes -Effect of Gyroscopic couple on automobiles, ships and aircrafts, Governors.

Design of Machine Elements:

Design for static and dynamic loading; failure theories; fatigue strength and the S-N diagram; principles of the design of machine elements such as riveted, welded and bolted joints. Shafts, Spur gears, rolling and sliding contact bearings, Brakes and clutches, flywheels.

Manufacturing, Industrial and Maintenance Engineering:

Metal casting, Metal forming, Metal Joining, Machining and machine tool operations, Limits, fits and tolerances, Metrology and inspection, computer Integrated manufacturing, FMS, Production planning and Control, Inventory control and operations research - CPM-PERT. Failure concepts and characteristics-Reliability, Failure analysis, Machine Vibration, Data acquisition, Fault Detection, Vibration Monitoring, Field Balancing of Rotors, Noise Monitoring, Wear and Debris Analysis, Signature Analysis, NDT Techniques in Condition Monitoring.

Mechatronics and Robotics:

Microprocessors and Microcontrollers: Architecture, Programming, and Interfacing; Data Conversion Devices, Memory Devices, Digital logic gates and Micro-controllers, concepts in programming of microprocessors and micro-controllers. Concepts of smart sensors and actuators, Types of Actuators, Fundamentals of Robotics - Specifications and criteria of robots, Principles of Sensing and Actuation, Industrial automation, Applications in manufacturing.

Computer Integrated Manufacturing:

Basic concepts of CAD/CAM and their integration tools.

Computer Integrated Manufacturing:

Basic concepts of CAD/CAM and their integration tools. Principles of CNC machines, Automation and Robotics in manufacturing, Flexible Manufacturing Systems, Group Technology, Cellular Manufacturing, Agile Manufacturing and its characteristics.

Industrial Engineering:

Product Design and Development, Work System Design, Facility Design, Production Planning and Control, Inventory Control, Supply Chain Management, Total Quality Management (TQM), Lean Manufacturing, JIT, Reliability and Maintenance Engineering, Operations Research, Value Engineering.

Operations Research:

Linear Programming, Non-linear Programming, Dynamic Programming, Queuing Theory, Inventory Theory, Network Analysis, Simulation.

Engineering Economy and Costing:

Evaluation of Engineering Projects, Depreciation and Taxes, Project Cash Flow, Cost Estimation, Costing Methods, Break-even Analysis, Cost of Capital, Risk and Uncertainty Analysis.

Exam Pattern

The IES Exam shall be conducted according to the following plan:

1. Stage-I: Engineering Services (Preliminary/Stage-I) Examination (Objective Type Papers) for the selection of candidates for the Stage-II: Engineering Services (Main/Stage-II) Examination;
2. Stage-II: Engineering Services (Main/Stage-II) Examination (Conventional Type Papers);
3. Stage-III: Personality Test.

Stage-I: IES Preliminary/Stage-I Examination

The Preliminary/Stage-I Examination will consist of two objective type (multiple choices) question papers carrying a maximum of 500 marks (Paper 1 - 200 Marks, Paper II - 300 Marks). Only those candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary/Stage-I Examination will be eligible for admission to the Main/Stage-II Examination. The marks obtained in Preliminary/Stage-I Examination will be counted for determining the final order of merit. The number of candidates to be admitted to the Main/Stage-II Examination will be about six to seven times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year through this examination.

Note: The Commission will draw a list of candidates to be qualified for the Main/Stage-II Examination based on the criterion of minimum qualifying marks in General Studies and Engineering Aptitude Paper (Paper-I) and Engineering Discipline specific paper (Paper-II) of Preliminary/Stage-I Examination.

Penalty (Negative Marking): There will be a penalty for wrong answers marked by a candidate in the objective type question papers. One-third (1/3rd) of the marks assigned to a question will be deducted as penalty for each wrong answer. If a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be treated as a wrong answer even if one of the given answers happens to be correct, and the same penalty will apply. If a question is left blank, no penalty will be applied.

Stage-II: IES Main/Stage-II Examination

The Main/Stage-II Examination will consist of two conventional type papers in Engineering Discipline specific, each with a duration of three hours and a maximum of 300 marks per paper (total 600 marks).

Stage-III: IES Personality Test

The Personality Test will carry 200 marks. Special attention will be paid to assessing the candidate's capacity for leadership, initiative, intellectual curiosity, tact, social qualities, mental and physical energy, practical application, and integrity of character.

Candidates who obtain the minimum qualifying marks in Stage-I and Stage-II as fixed by the Commission will be summoned for the Stage-III (Personality Test). The number of candidates to be summoned for the Personality Test will be about twice the number of vacancies to be filled. Marks obtained in all three stages will determine the final ranking, and candidates will be allotted to various services based on their ranks and preferences.

Conventional papers must be answered in English. The question paper will be set in English only.

Result will be declared soon after successful conduction of the examination. It will be declared on the official website.