GATE Electrical Syllabus 2027: PDF & Topics

Official sections

10

Numbered in the EE syllabus PDF

General Aptitude

15 marks

Separate official syllabus, included below

Subject marks

85

Of 100; General Aptitude is the other 15

Syllabus status

2027 document

Compare the cited official versions

Use the official GATE 2027 Electrical Engineering syllabus as a scope document, not a timetable. The transcription below preserves the topics in IIT Madras's PDF; our interpretation and preparation suggestions are separate. General Aptitude has its own official document and is summarised below.

The section checklist links directly to each part of the document. It deliberately does not count paragraphs as topics: a continuous paragraph can contain an entire subject, while another section uses several named entries.

GATE 2027 EE syllabus: how the paper is organised

The official GATE 2027 Electrical Engineering syllabus has 10 numbered sections. A paragraph or heading is a formatting unit, not a measure of study time, difficulty or marks. Use this section checklist to navigate the source, then make smaller revision tasks from the actual concepts under each section.

The full GATE 2027 EE syllabus, section by section

Below is the complete syllabus as published, section by section. The wording is the Organizing Institute's own — it has not been paraphrased, because you are going to make study decisions from it.

Section 1: Engineering Mathematics

• Linear Algebra: Matrix Algebra, Systems of linear equations, Eigen values, Eigen vectors.
• Calculus: Mean value theorems, Theorems of integral calculus, Evaluation of definite and improper integrals, Partial Derivatives, Maxima and minima, Multiple integrals, Fourier series, Vector identities, Directional derivatives, Line integral, Surface integral, Volume integral, Stokes's theorem, Gauss's theorem, Divergence theorem, Green's theorem.
• Differential Equations: First order equations (linear and nonlinear), Higher order linear differential equations with constant coefficients, Method of variation of parameters, Cauchy's equation, Euler's equation, Initial and boundary value problems, Partial Differential Equations, Method of separation of variables.
• Complex Variables: Analytic functions, Cauchy's integral theorem, Cauchy's integral formula, Taylor series, Laurent series, Residue theorem, Solution integrals.
• Probability and Statistics: Sampling theorems, Conditional probability, Mean, Median, Mode, Standard Deviation, Random variables, Discrete and Continuous distributions, Poisson distribution, Normal distribution, Binomial distribution, Correlation analysis, Regression analysis.

Section 2: Electric circuits

• Network Elements: Ideal voltage and current sources, dependent sources, R, L, C, M elements.
• Network solution methods: KCL, KVL, Node and Mesh analysis.
• Network Theorems: Thevenin's, Norton's, Superposition and Maximum Power Transfer theorem.
• Transient response of DC and AC networks, sinusoidal steady-state analysis, resonance, two port networks, balanced three phase circuits, star-delta transformation, complex power and power factor in AC circuits.

Section 3: Electromagnetic Fields

Coulomb's Law, Electric Field Intensity, Electric Flux Density, Gauss's Law, Divergence, Electric field and potential due to point, line, plane and spherical charge distributions, Effect of dielectric medium, Capacitance of simple configurations, Biot-Savart's law, Ampere's law, Curl, Faraday's law, Lorentz force, Inductance, Magnetomotive force, Reluctance, Magnetic circuits, Self and Mutual inductance of simple configurations.

Section 4: Signals and Systems

Representation of continuous and discrete time signals, shifting and scaling properties, linear time invariant and causal systems, Fourier series representation of continuous and discrete time periodic signals, sampling theorem, Applications of Fourier Transform for continuous and discrete time signals, Laplace Transform and Z transform. R.M.S. value, average value calculation for any general periodic waveform.

Section 5: Electrical Machines

• Single phase transformer: Equivalent circuit, phasor diagram, open circuit and short circuit tests, regulation and efficiency.
• Three-phase transformers: Connections, vector groups, parallel operation.
• Auto-transformer, Electromechanical energy conversion principles.
• DC machines: Separately excited, series and shunt, motoring and generating mode of operation and their characteristics, speed control of dc motors.
• Three-phase induction machines: Principle of operation, types, performance, torque-speed characteristics, no-load and blocked-rotor tests, equivalent circuit, starting and speed control.
• Operating principle of single-phase induction motors.
• Synchronous machines: Cylindrical and salient pole machines, performance and characteristics, regulation and parallel operation of generators, starting of synchronous motors.
• Types of losses and efficiency calculations of electric machines.

Section 6: Power Systems

Basic concepts of electrical power generation, AC and DC transmission concepts, Models and performance of transmission lines and cables, Economic Load Dispatch (with and without considering transmission losses), Series and shunt compensation, Electric field distribution and insulators, Distribution systems, Per-unit quantities, Bus admittance matrix, Gauss-Seidel and Newton-Raphson load flow methods, Voltage and Frequency control, Power factor correction, Symmetrical components, Symmetrical and unsymmetrical fault analysis, Principles of over-current, differential, directional and distance protection; Circuit breakers, System stability concepts, Equal area criterion.

Section 7: Control Systems

Mathematical modelling and representation of systems, Feedback principle, transfer function, Block diagrams and Signal flow graphs, Transient and Steady-state analysis of linear time invariant systems, Stability analysis using Routh-Hurwitz and Nyquist criteria, Bode plots, Root loci, Lag, Lead and Lead-Lag compensators; P, PI and PID controllers; State space model, Solution of state equations of LTI systems.

Section 8: Electrical and Electronic Measurements

Bridges and Potentiometers, Measurement of voltage, current, power, energy and power factor; Instrument transformers, Digital voltmeters and multi-meters, Phase, Time and Frequency measurement; Oscilloscopes, Error analysis.

Section 9: Analog and Digital Electronics

• Simple diode circuits: Clipping, clamping, rectifiers.
• Amplifiers: Biasing, equivalent circuit and frequency response.
• Oscillators and feedback amplifiers.
• Operational amplifiers: Characteristics and applications.
• Single stage active filters.
• Active Filters: Sallen Key, Butterworth, VCOs and timers.
• Combinatorial and sequential logic circuits, multiplexers, demultiplexers, Schmitt triggers, sample and hold circuits, A/D and D/A converters.

Section 10: Power Electronics

• Static V-I characteristics and firing/gating circuits for Thyristor, MOSFET, IGBT.
• DC to DC conversion: Buck, Boost and Buck-Boost Converters.
• Single and three-phase configuration of uncontrolled rectifiers.
• Voltage and Current commutated Thyristor based converters.
• Bidirectional ac to dc voltage source converters.
• Magnitude and Phase of line current harmonics for uncontrolled and thyristor based converters.
• Power factor and Distortion Factor of AC to DC converters.
• Single-phase and three-phase voltage and current source inverters, sinusoidal pulse width modulation.

General Aptitude: the other 15 marks

General Aptitude is common to all GATE papers and is published separately from the EE document. The following is a scope summary, not a substitute for the official 2027 General Aptitude syllabus PDF.

• Verbal Aptitude: basic English grammar and vocabulary in context, reading comprehension and narrative sequencing.
• Quantitative Aptitude: data interpretation; computation and estimation including ratios, percentages, powers, logarithms, permutations, combinations and series; mensuration, geometry, elementary statistics and probability.
• Analytical Aptitude: deduction, induction, analogy, numerical relations and reasoning.
• Spatial Aptitude: translation, rotation, scaling, mirroring, assembling and grouping shapes; paper folding, cutting and patterns in two and three dimensions.

What to notice in the 2027 EE syllabus

No standalone Numerical Methods heading in Engineering Mathematics

Section 1 lists Linear Algebra, Calculus, Differential Equations, Complex Variables, and Probability and Statistics. It does not list a standalone Numerical Methods topic. That is not a reason to ignore every numerical technique: Section 6 explicitly names Gauss-Seidel and Newton-Raphson load-flow methods. Map textbook chapters to the relevant section instead of dropping material by a broad chapter label.

Transform methods have an application context

Section 4 names Fourier, Laplace and Z transforms, sampling, and RMS/average-value calculation for periodic waveforms. Fourier series also appears under Calculus. Our study suggestion is to connect mathematical definitions with signal and system examples rather than treating these as unrelated chapters.

A single paragraph can conceal substantial scope

Power Systems includes transmission, economic load dispatch, compensation, per-unit quantities, load flow, fault analysis, protection and stability in one continuous list. Its formatting does not make it smaller than a section with multiple headings. Build a checklist from the concepts, not the number of paragraphs.

Read named converter and filter topologies precisely

Section 10 names Buck, Boost and Buck-Boost converters, rectifiers, thyristor converters, voltage-source conversion, harmonics, distortion factor and sinusoidal pulse-width modulation. Section 9 names Sallen Key and Butterworth filters, VCOs and timers. Check the exact wording before substituting a generic electronics course for the official scope.

GATE 2026 vs 2027: selected syllabus comparisons

Checked 2026-09-06: we compared the text of the official IIT Guwahati GATE 2026 PDF with the official IIT Madras GATE 2027 PDF linked below. The rows are editorial summaries of selected passages, not verbatim transcriptions or an official change log. PDF layout, spacing and hyphenation differences are normalized; section and PDF-page references identify the compared scope. This is not an exhaustive list of additions or removals, and unchanged components are labelled explicitly.

How the EE syllabus maps to marks

Electrical Engineering is a three-hour computer-based test of 65 questions and 100 marks. Of those, 15 marks are General Aptitude, 13 marks are Engineering Mathematics drawn from Section 1 of the syllabus above, and the remaining 72 marks come from the core EE sections.

General Aptitude and Engineering Mathematics together account for 28 marks. Our planning recommendation is to practise both throughout preparation rather than treating them as optional. The distribution alone does not establish their difficulty or your likely score.

A study order for the EE syllabus

The sequence below is one dependency-based option, not a prescribed order or a claim about marks per hour. Use a diagnostic problem in each area to adapt it to your existing knowledge.

1. 1Electric circuits and Signals and Systems: practise network equations, phasors and transforms before using them in larger systems.
2. 2Control Systems: connect transfer functions and stability methods to the signal models you have studied.
3. 3Electrical Machines: work through equivalent circuits, tests, phasor diagrams and operating characteristics, with spaced revision.
4. 4Power Systems and Power Electronics: revisit circuit assumptions, per-unit bases and device models as you apply them.
5. 5Electromagnetic Fields, Measurements, Analog and Digital Electronics: schedule these explicitly rather than assuming they are covered by other subjects.
6. 6Engineering Mathematics and General Aptitude: reserve recurring practice and review errors separately from subject coverage.

Worked example

Original illustration: line quantities versus phase quantities

This is an original teaching illustration, not an official PYQ or a predicted question. Its purpose is to practise a method under explicit assumptions, not to forecast topic weightage or exam difficulty.

A balanced, star-connected three-phase load is supplied by balanced sinusoidal voltages. At the load terminals the line-to-line RMS voltage is 400 V and each line carries 10 A RMS. The load power factor is 0.80 lagging, meaning each phase current lags its own phase voltage. Neglect line losses. Find the RMS voltage and current of each load phase and the total real power absorbed. This asks for electrical input power, not motor shaft output.

1. 1For the star connection, Vphase = Vline/√3 = 400/√3 ≈ 230.94 V RMS and Iphase = Iline = 10 A RMS. The √3 voltage relation follows from phase voltages separated by 120 degrees; do not add their magnitudes arithmetically.
2. 2The power factor is cos φ = 0.80, where φ is the angle between the voltage and current of the same load phase. It is not the angle between an arbitrary line-to-line voltage and line current.
3. 3Total real power is P = 3 Vphase Iphase cos φ = √3 Vline Iline cos φ = √3 × 400 × 10 × 0.80 ≈ 5542.56 W = 5.543 kW. Use RMS, not peak, quantities in this expression.
4. 4Check independently by phases: each phase absorbs (400/√3) × 10 × 0.80 ≈ 1847.52 W; multiplying by three returns 5542.56 W. With the same voltage and current but unity power factor, real power would be 6928.20 W, so the stated result is smaller as it should be.

Answer: Vphase ≈ 230.94 V RMS; Iphase = 10 A RMS; total real power P ≈ 5542.56 W = 5.543 kW absorbed by the load.

Source check: 2026-09-06. The conceptual reading below supports the method; the official syllabus PDF supports topic scope only. Neither source supplies or endorses this original worked example.

Preparation checklist

Use these editorial prompts for a weekly plan and individual study sessions. Adjust the workload to your available time and current understanding. They are not an official study schedule or a score guarantee, and this one example does not cover the whole paper.

• At the start of the week, choose unfinished topics from the official EE syllabus and pair a circuits session with a machines, power-systems or control session; write the prerequisite that must be revised first.
• Before each AC calculation, label line versus phase, RMS versus peak, star versus delta and leading versus lagging. Draw one phase of a balanced circuit and cross-check total power against three times phase power.
• In one machines session this week, draw the power-flow chain and place each loss at the correct stage before computing efficiency or torque; distinguish electrical input, converted power and shaft output.
• During the next power-systems session, write the chosen base MVA and base voltage at every voltage level before converting to per-unit. During a control session, check pole locations before describing a transient response.
• Once this week, attempt a timed mixed set including Engineering Mathematics and General Aptitude. Track marks using the applicable question-type rules and annotate every incorrect calculation with its unit, sign or modelling error.
• At the next review session, use Lesson 13B to rebuild the star/delta conversion table from a sketch. Reattempt missed questions without notes after 48 hours, then allocate next week's time to unresolved errors rather than repeating only comfortable topics.

Practising GATE EE questions against this syllabus

A syllabus tells you the scope; past questions tell you the depth. Two topics can occupy one line each in the PDF and differ by an order of magnitude in how hard they are actually examined — the only way to calibrate that is to solve questions tagged to the specific topic and see what comes back.

Use the GATE EE topic map to organise revision and the GATE EE resource hub for available question-backed study companions, released papers and official past-paper links. Read the companion GATE EE 2027 exam guide for dates, eligibility and the full pattern.

GATE 2027 EE syllabus FAQs

How many sections are in the GATE Electrical 2027 syllabus?

The EE subject PDF has 10 numbered sections, beginning with Engineering Mathematics and ending with Power Electronics. General Aptitude is published separately and contributes 15 of the 100 marks.

Does the EE syllabus include Numerical Methods?

There is no standalone Numerical Methods heading in Engineering Mathematics. However, Power Systems explicitly includes Gauss-Seidel and Newton-Raphson load-flow methods. The absence of the maths heading does not exclude those named applications.

Where is the official GATE EE 2027 syllabus PDF?

Use the direct IIT Madras PDF link near the start of this page or in Official GATE 2027 resources below. The General Aptitude PDF is separate. The comparison section also links the previous official document.

Does IIT Madras guarantee section-wise weightage?

The official pattern allocates 15 marks to General Aptitude, 13 to Engineering Mathematics and 72 to core EE content. It does not guarantee a separate allocation for each core section. Historical counts must be labelled with their year and counting method.

What should I do after reading the syllabus?

Choose a section, list its concepts, solve a representative problem and record the reasoning or unit errors you made. Use the worked example and preparation checklist below, then follow the resource hub for supplemental learning and available practice.

Exam dates, the registration schedule, fees and eligibility for this paper are covered in full in the GATE EE 2027 exam guide. Dates follow the official GATE 2027 Important Dates page, checked 2026-09-06, which IIT Madras marks liable to change. The registration schedule has been revised. Always confirm on gate2027.iitm.ac.in before acting on any deadline.