NEW DELHI: The National Testing Agency (NTA), often making headlines for the wrong reasons—especially following the NEET UG paper leak—has reported earnings of ₹3,513.98 crore.
Of this, ₹3,064.77 crore was allocated to conducting examinations, according to the Education Ministry's report to Parliament on Wednesday.
The NTA’s revenue surged by 78%, jumping from ₹490.35 crore in 2021-22 to ₹873.20 crore in 2022-23, largely due to the introduction of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET).
In response to Rajya Sabha Congress MP Vivek K. Tankha's inquiries, Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar stated that the NTA is financially self-sustaining through the examination fees it collects.
In its inaugural year (2018-19), the NTA earned ₹101.51 crore from application fees but faced higher expenditures of ₹118.43 crore. By the fiscal year 2023-24, the NTA’s fee income had risen to approximately ₹1,065.38 crore, with expenses closely following at ₹1,020.35 crore.
Majumdar explained that to maintain examination integrity and efficiency, the NTA has outsourced several key operational functions to specialized private agencies. These include tasks such as biometric data collection, frisking, CCTV surveillance, and AI-driven analytics to prevent impersonation and bolster security.
The NTA’s staffing comprises a diverse mix of deputed, contractual, and outsourced employees, with 22 deputed employees, 39 contractual employees, and 132 outsourced staff.
Among the deputed employees, 17.3% are women, and 13% belong to the Scheduled Castes (SC) category. This diverse team plays a crucial role in ensuring the NTA's mission of fair and transparent examination processes, the minister said.
Over the past six years, the NTA has managed more than 240 examinations for over 5.4 crore candidates. It oversees the three largest college entrance exams in India: the Common University Entrance Test for Undergraduates (CUET-UG), the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) for medical admissions, and the Joint Entrance Examination Main (JEE Main) for engineering.