In 2017, all the NITS saw a drop in their cutoff ranks. The reason was the removal of class 12th boards percentage from JEE Mains rank calculation. 

Here is a simple example to get my point across-

• Let’s assume there are 3 seats in IITs and 3 in NITs in 2016, and 26 candidates sit for JEE Advanced.This is how their ranks are placed-

A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4, E-5, F-6, G-7, and so on.

• Till 2016, a lot of top performers of JEE Advanced lagged behind in JEE Mains because of their boards percentage. This created an irregular pattern for the JEE Mains ranking. For example, the JEE Mains rankings of those very students could have turned out like-

C-1, D-2, E-3, B-4, F-5, A-6, H-7, and so on.

Now, A,B,C took the 3 seats in IITs, and D,E,F got into NITs. So, the cutoff for IITs was 3, and that for NITs was 5 ( as F was the last one to get into NIT, with rank 5 in JEE Mains).

• But in 2017, the JEE Mains rankings were quite similar to the JEE Advanced rankings. So, the rankings for those 26 students could look something like this in 2017-

B-1, D-2, A-3, C-4, F-5, E-6, K-8, and so on.

If A,B,C took IITs, and D,E,F got into NITs, the cutoffs for NITs was 6 ( as E with rank 6 was the last person to get in). 

Here, the cutoff went down by 1 rank. But when lakhs of students attempt an exam, such a change brings down the cutoffs by hundreds and thousands. 

This is the reason why MANIT Bhopal cutoffs went down from that year.