Hello.,

IIT'S are one of the reputed colleges in India. Lower branches does mean the lower cutoff marks. In general you must prefer the branch you are interested in as the placement depends upon your performance but as top IIT have good placement offers and many top companies recruit the students no matter of the branch.

Whereas the other IIT may recruit minimum students.So it should totally depends on your choice of interest in the branch as getting recruited in the company always depends on your performance.

hope this helps. Good luck