The Graduate Aptitude Exam in Engineering (GATE) is becoming the sole deciding factor for recruitment of Engineering Graduates into the coveted Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). GATE is a competitive examination conducted jointly by seven Indian Institutes of Technology (Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee) and the Indian Institute of Science on behalf of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), once a year and is focused on testing the technical competence of a candidate. The test is taken by around 10 lakh candidates a year, making it the second most competitive exam in the country in terms of number of candidates taking the examination, with the first being the IIT-JEE entrance test.
The test is not a relatively new one. The GATE has been used as a tool for admitting candidates to Post Graduate Courses in Engineering from 1984. From 2012, the examination has also been used by PSUs in their recruitment process. The number of PSUs using the GATE score has steadily increased over the years and last year GATE score was used by around 37 PSU in recruitment process. GATE 2016 score was also used for recruitment of positions in the Cabinet Secretariat in the Govt of India.
GATE 2017 will be conducted in February 2017. The stark difference between the previous GATE and this year’s is that GATE is no longer confined to India but will also be conducted in six other countries. The recruitment notification of most of the Public Sector
Companies using GATE 2017 has been released last month with some PSUs offering CTC as high as around 15 Lakhs.