Students clamouring for admission to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) this year have a reason to celebrate as the number of seats in the institutes is set to increase, with four out of five new IITs announced in the union budget also participating in the centralised admission rounds at IIT Bombay for the academic year 2015-16.
The new IITs- proposed in Goa, Tirupati, Palakkad and Chhattisgarh will open its doors for students this year, albeit with fewer seats.
Last year, more than 9,800 seats across 16 IITs were available for admission. This year, with the new IITs and the conversion of Indian Institute of Mines (ISM) Dhanbad into an IIT, the number of seats will be close to 11,000, officials at IIT Bombay said.
As the cut-off marks for eligibility to appear for the JEE Advanced has also come down to 105 from 115 last year, coupled with the new rule that students scoring 75% or more in board exams will also be eligible for admissions, students have a much better chance of securing an IIT seat.
Registrations for JEE Advanced will begin from May 2 and close on May 7.
"We have issued the notification that four new IITs along with the converted ISM will be a part of the centralised admission process. I cannot comment on the number of seats that will increase."
IIT Bombay is convening the JEE Advanced and the centralised admissions this year. While a common counselling round for National Institutes of Technology (NIT) and IITs almost finalised, students can choose from more IITs this year as students will be able to choose courses offered by both IITs and NITS on the same online platform.