Each of the five newer IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) -Tirupati, Dharwad, Palakkad, Jammu, and Bhilai – are expected to add 200 new undergraduate seats annually for the next five years, as per latest discussions in the Union education ministry.
This will nearly double the current student intake at the newer IITs, which have typically offered admissions to 250-280 students in the last few academic sessions.
The Union budget 2025 has paved the way for adding 6,500 new undergraduate seats at five IITs in a phased manner.
In 2024, among the newer IITs: –
- IIT Dharwad stood out with 385 seats on offer against 200 at IIT Palakkad,
- 250 plus at IIT Tirupati and around 280 at both IIT Jammu and IIT Bhilai.
- Overall, this will increase the annual intake at BTech level- across these IITs- by nearly 1,500 seats every year.
Currently, 23 IITs admit over 17,700 students at undergraduate level- a figure that will go over 24,000 in the next five years.
The ministry, in fact, has also been looking at ways to increase seats from this year itself, but that may prove challenging given that the capacity expansion has been tied to infrastructural upgrade as well.
“While it is desirable to increase seats right away…there are logistical issues. To accommodate 200 additional students, newer IITs will need to expand residential and classroom space quickly. Then also getting adequate faculty to meet the IIT Faculty Student ratio can be a challenge. So while some increase is being considered this year as well, it is more likely to take off only in 2026”, an official with knowledge of the deliberations told ET.
Infra Upgrades: The Education ministry is learnt to be holding rounds of discussions with the IITs on infrastructure upgrade requirements, funding needed and implementation timelines for the same.
With the budgetary allocation for IITs moving up from Rs 10,324 crore in 2024 to ₹11,349 crores in 2025 budget, the 9.92% increase is expected to help the newer IITs create facilities to accommodate more students. However, even with the seat expansion planned, there is a long way to go- in terms of the growing student pool and need for quality technical education associated so strongly with the country’s IITs.
As per 2024 data, less than 50,000 students made it to IITs against over 12 lakh students in the fray.
Governments and its several committees have also been alive to the need for seat expansion at the 23 IITs, especially in the light of increasing exam pressure and coaching culture around the Joint Entrance Examination.
The 2016 meeting of the IIT Council had , in fact, announced plans to push up IIT seat intake to one lakh by 2020- a target far from achievement even in 2025.
There are good reasons too: While funding is a constraint- typically, government expenditure per seat/student amounts to well over ₹6 lakh per annum; there are other concerns as well. Challenges in infrastructure upgradation apart, the difficulty of finding quality faculty has also been plaguing the IITs.
