Engineering Seats Decreases To Lowest In 10 Years, 63 Colleges To Close In 2021

Despite the steady decline in the number of seats, engineering still accounts for 80% of the total seats in technical education (architecture, management, hotel management and pharmacy) in country.

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Engineering colleges in India are shutting down and the latest report shows that the total number of seats in institutions has come down to the lowest in a decade. The latest data from the All India Technical Education Council (AICTE) shows that the number of engineering seats at the undergraduate, postgraduate and diploma levels has come down to 23.28 lakh, the lowest in 10 years. The shortfall in seats this year is estimated at 1.46 lakh due to the closure of institutes and reduction in admission capacity.

Significantly, despite a steady decline in the number of seats, engineering still accounts for 80% of the total seats in technical education (architecture, management, hotel management and pharmacy) in the country.

50 engineering institutes closed every year since 2015-16

At its peak in 2014-15, there were about 32 lakh seats in engineering education across all AICTE-approved institutions.  The decline is being attributed to the consolidation that began seven years ago, in which the colleges had to close due to low demand.  Since then, around 400 engineering schools have shut down. At least 50 engineering institutes are shutting down every year since 2015-16, excluding the last year's Covid pandemic period. This year, 63 engineering institutes have got AICTE approval for closure.

Decline in opening of new institutions

Technical education regulator's approval for setting up new engineering institutes is at a five-year low. In 2019, AICTE had announced a moratorium of two years on new institutes starting from 2020-21. This was done on the recommendation of a government committee headed by IIT-Hyderabad Chairman BVR Mohan Reddy.

AICTE approves 54 new institutes for 2021-22

Significantly, for the academic year 2021-22, AICTE has approved 54 new institutes. According to a report published in the Indian Express, Chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe said that these approvals are for setting up engineering colleges in backward districts, requests that were already in the pipeline, and in the case of state governments wanting to start a new institute. Three years before the moratorium came into force, the regulator has approved 143, 158 and 153 new institutions in 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 respectively.