I'm a mechanical engineering graduate from an IIT. But what I really wanted to be was a paleontologist. Is there any scope for me of pursuing a masters and a career in paleontology with a B.Tech degree in mechanical engineering?

U can try doing ur masters in geology(not sure if can switch frm engineering).

I can certainly think of ways in which your engineering knowledge would help you become a palaeontologist. Taking it up as a career will hinge upon you applying for grad school at the right place (yes, you will probably need to go to grad school at a good university abroad). Here's some stuff to start chewing on: 1. You could think about researching what's called functional morphology, i.e. how morphology evolves as an adaptation to a specific functional requirement. Why are some bivalves thin and streamlined in appearance while others are rounded? Can you draw a parallel between its shell (or should I say valve?) design and the water velocity in its living environment? What mechanical engineering principles can you apply to a T-Rex femur with a particular radius of cross section (and some cleverly determined material properties) to determine how much weight it could support and thereby how big the dinosaur could get? Why are movies like King Kong impossible from a mechanical engineering standpoint? 2. Micropalaeontology: Can you use your quantitative skills to measure isotope ratios in tiny microfossils? Can you use thermodynamics to find the temparature of the seawater at which the fossil tests were secreted? Can you put those together to generate a curve showing warming of ocean water through time? Can you extrapolate that curve into the future and see what global warming might do? Now that you've started thinking about what you might like to do, what can you do to get yourself there? PRL does a fair amount of pretty good work in palaeoclimate, so perhaps an internship there might set you on the road you want to be on. The Birbal Sahni institute in Lucknow might take on interns and project assistants. Get in touch with professors at IIT Bombay, Roorkee, or Kharagpur (these are the older IITs with Earth Sciences programmes) or Kanpur, Bhubaneshwar (new departments so not certain if they have well developed palaeo research there). ISI Kolkata and IISER Kolkata have programmes as well. NIO Goa does research in Micropalaeontology too. As far as grad schools go, I can't really help much because my knowledge of palaeontology isn't too hot, but I guess what you really need to figure out first is what you're really interested in within paleontology and then keep a lookout.