JEE Advanced 2025: Bengal’s Devdutta becomes top-ranking female candidate

Kolkata: Devdutta Majhi of Bengal has added yet another feather to her cap by emerging as the top-ranking female candidate in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced 2025, the results of which were announced on Monday. Majhi secured the 16th position in the Common Rank List (CRL), the highest achieved by any girl this year. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee extended her congratulations through a post on her X handle, stating: “Congratulations Devdutta Majhi of Burdwan for making Bengal proud again. Today’s JEE Advanced 2025 examination results show that you have been topper among all girls in the entire country, and the highest rank holder in the IIT Kharagpur zone. You achieved top ranks in our Secondary and Higher Secondary examinations earlier, and now you are the topper girl of India! Wish you the very best, and congratulations to your parents and teachers too!” A student of Katwa Durgadasi Chaudhurani Girls’ High School in East Burdwan, Majhi appeared from the IIT Kharagpur zone and scored an impressive 312 out of 360 marks. Her exceptional performance not only made her the top female candidate nationally but also the overall topper from her zone.

This latest triumph is yet another shining accomplishment in Devdutta’s remarkable academic journey. She has consistently demonstrated excellence, having topped the Madhyamik (Secondary) Examinations in 2023. In JEE Main 2025 (Session 1), she was the West Bengal state topper with a 99.99921 percentile and in the second session, she bettered her performance with a perfect 100 percentile and secured an All India Rank 1. She also secured 6th rank in the Higher Secondary Examinations 2025. Majhi’s success is rooted in discipline and self-reliance. After completing her Madhyamik, she set her sights on studying at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. Under the steady guidance of her mother, Shelly Dan, a physics teacher at the same school, she maintained a rigorous self-study schedule, supplemented by virtual doubt-clearing sessions with selected teachers. Over the past two years, hobbies such as playing the violin, chess and reading detective novels took a backseat to her studies. “We are extremely happy and proud,” said Dan. “This result is the outcome of two years of focused effort. Devdutta will now pursue BTech in Mathematics and Computing at IISc Bengaluru. Her future plans include research in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.”

The JEE Advanced 2025 was held on May 18, with 1,80,422 candidates appearing for both papers. A total of 54,378 students qualified, including 9,404 girls. In the IIT Kharagpur zone, 5,353 candidates qualified, and five made it to the national top 100. Among them, Majhi led the way, followed by Hans Daruka (CRL 39), Aritro Ray of Delhi Public School Ruby Park (CRL 50), Samyajyoti Biswas (CRL 63) and Nabaneet Priyadarshi (CRL 97). Nationally, Rajit Gupta from the IIT Delhi zone topped the exam with 332 out of 360 marks.