Not really in India,
You basically need to have a college degree to get a white-collar job. Without a college degree, the only thing you could do to earn a basic living is some sort of business/startup which not everyone can do.
College degrees are extremely cheap here $12,000 for an entire year for GEN category students, it's much cheaper for poorer families and people from some backward castes.
You get really high-quality education (textbook education btw) in Engineering if you get your degree from a good college. DTU (which OP is joining) is one of them. The only catch is finding internships and jobs is extremely tough. So you will have a hard time getting good practical experience. Usually, top students in engineering will get internships in top companies like Google, Micro or top consulting firms etc, others try for foreign research/software dev internships which are much easier to get. The rest just graduate will 0% academia or industry experience.
BTW civil services are famous in India as well and pays quite well. But you need a college degree to sit in the exam :). Many just take a quick and easy degree just to be eligible for the exam.