Hi

The UPSC offers three engineering disciplines as optionals in the UPSC mains exam. They are civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering. They are indeed highly specialized subjects, and only engineering graduates are recommended to take them up as optionals. So you can take one of them.You have to choose an alternative subject in which you are comfortable to score high in UPSC mains.If the subject you took for graduation is available in the list of subjects given, it will be a comfortable option. A lot of candidates from an engineering background have performed well in the IAS exam. However, if a candidate wants to choose an optional subject based on their previous knowledge, if you have done btech in the given disciplines then the options reduce to Civil, Mechanical and Electrical engineering.