JEE 2017: Number of seats increased in IITs by 528

JAB has also approved an increase in the number of candidates who can take the JEE (Advanced) test -from 2 lakh to 2.2 lakh.

From 2017 academic session, the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) will increase 5% in their total student intake. Over and above the total student strength the renowned tech and engineering schools of the Country have also decided to increase the intake of foreign students by up to 10% of the revised figure.

All the 23 IITs are going to absorb the increased number. But many other institutes have said that they wouldn’t be able to immediately increase their intake with their current infrastructure. Most of the increase would happen in the relatively newer IITs as of now.

JAB has also approved an increase in the number of candidates who can take the JEE (Advanced) test -from 2 lakh to 2.2 lakh, keeping in mind the increase in seats from next academic session. (ALSO READ: CAT 2016 Admit Card Download begins from today at 1 pm: download now at official website iimcat.ac.in)

According to TOI reports, the decision to increase the number of students -from 10,572 in the current academic session to 11,100 the next year -was taken at a recent meeting of the Joint Admission Board (JAB), which is the highest decision-making body of IIT-JEE (Advanced). The meeting was attended by the chairpersons of all IITs, headed by organizing committee chairman Prem Bisht of IIT Madras.

This is being seen as a step towards implementing the decision, approved by the IIT Council this August, to increase the total number of seats to 1,00,000 by 2020. The proposal was given by HRD minister Prakash Javadekar, who also chairs the council. However, most of the older IITs want to retain their present seat strength.

A senior IIT-Kharagpur official said, “We are in no position to admit extra students despite the government wanting each IIT to increase intake. Most of the seat increase has taken place in the newer IITs, which offer more courses than last year and have expanded their intake.”

The official also said, “At the older IITs, there is a serious space crunch. Even if we can build accommodation, classrooms and other infrastructure from government funding, it takes many years to buildworld class laboratories which offer state-of-the-art facilities to students. And we would not like to compromise on providing quality education.” (ALSO READ: JEE (Advanced) 2017 Important Date Released: Check complete details)

As of now, IIT-Kharagpur has the highest student capacity (1,360), followed by IIT-BHU (1,090) and IIT-Roorkee (1,065). Among the newer IITs, the most seats are set to be increased by the newer IITs, like the ones at Bhubaneshwar, Patna, Jammu and Jodhpur.

Another senior IIT official said,”The exact seat distribution will be clear once the senates -the highest administrative decisionmaking bodies of each IIT -give the green light.”

In another decision, the IITs will give admission to up to 10% more foreign students if they make the cut in the JEE (Advanced) test. “It means roughly another 1,000 students of foreign origin may find a seat in IITs over and above the 11,100 figure,” a source said. The IIT Council has also approved day-boarding scholars, or the non-residential admission format, added the source.