CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu continues to have the highest number of undergraduate engineering seats in the country, with about 32,000 more seats being added to the tally this year. As per the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) data, the approved BE/BTech seats in Tamil Nadu in the 2024-25 academic year is 3,08,686, compared to 2,75,830 in 2023-24.
Academicians said the figure is significant as it indicates the persistent, strong demand for engineering courses in the state.
After completion of Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions counselling, over 54,000 seats remained vacant this year. However, academicians told TNIE that among professional courses, engineering is still the first preference of students and parents.
“This year, enrolment in engineering colleges was 13,000 more than last year. The 54,000 seats that fell vacant were mainly in core engineering courses and in colleges with poor infrastructure. Most of the colleges managed to get better enrolment than last year,” said K Suresh, principal of a private engineering college.
Academicians said that due to the rising demand for engineering courses, especially for computer science and IT-related courses, private engineering colleges affiliated to Anna University added over 22,000 seats this year. There are 488 colleges affiliated to Anna University across the state.
“We have filled around 1.8 lakh engineering seats across the state under the government quota, but vacancies still remain,” said a senior official of the directorate of technical education.
‘Engg seats in Andhra rose to 1,83,532 from 1.6 lakh last year’
“The challenge with engineering courses has been the limited employment opportunities for graduates. We have revised the curriculum based on industry feedback to enhance students’ employability,” he said. “We anticipate an increase in demand for engineering graduates. Correspondingly, the number of seats will also increase,” the official added. After Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh comes second in the number of engineering seats. The total seats in AP increased to 1,83,532 from 1.60 lakh last year. “AICTE, in 2023-24, removed the embargo on adding new seats in BTech programme and many colleges opted to increase their BTech seats,” said a faculty of Anna University.