BENGALURU: The number of unallotted engineering seats through Karnataka’s Undergraduate Common Entrance Test (UGCET) has risen sharply, with 26.35% of the total available seats for engineering and architecture going unclaimed this year, compared to 18.12% last year (2025). While industry veterans have sought to explain the rise in vacancies by pointing to an increase in the number of engineering colleges and seats, the state government is monitoring the trend with concern.
As per data shared with TNIE by KEA, a total of 85,020 engineering and architecture seats were available in 2025, of which 15,403 remained unallotted. In 2026, of the 94,318 available seats, 24,856 were left vacant.
“Before questioning why the number of unfilled seats has increased, one must also note that the number of engineering colleges has gone up every year. Compared to last year, at least 10 new engineering colleges have been added in the state this year. Naturally, the number of seats has also increased.
That is why the number of unfilled seats appears higher,” said Dr S Vidyashankar, vice-chancellor of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU). Dr Vidyashankar also told TNIE that “the claim that students are turning away from engineering is false. In fact, the overall number of students entering higher education itself has declined.”
However, the data shows that the increase in the number of seats alone does not account for the rise in vacancies. Of the 85,020 seats available last year, 69,617 were allotted. In 2026, despite the number of available seats increasing to 94,318, the number of allotted seats fell to 69,462. Thus, while 9,298 additional seats were added this year, 155 fewer seats were allotted compared to 2025.
The trend comes amid concerns in the engineering sector over changing job requirements and the impact of AI on employment. Chief Secretary to the Karnataka government Shalini Rajneesh told TNIE that the state government was aware of the trend and was monitoring the figures with concern.
“We are looking at introducing demand-oriented curricula for engineering courses at higher-education institutions. Awareness drives would be conducted to educate students about the curriculum changes,” Dr Rajneesh said. She also said it was difficult to construct a stable roadmap as industry demands keep shifting rapidly.