All 2.62 lakh engg aspirants clear CET hurdle

Chinmay Ghanekar, 18, is one of the top scorers, who scored 199 out of 200

Extra marks awarded for two errors in the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (MH-CET) this year ensured that none of the 2.62 lakh engineering aspirant failed the test.

There were two errors, one each in the Physics and Chemistry sections of the MH-CET paper. “Since none of the candidates scored zero this year, all have passed and are eligible for admission to engineering institutes. Around 53 candidates have scored above 191 out of 200 this year,” said Dayanand Meshram, joint director, Directorate of Technical Education (DTE).

The DTE, which announced the overall results on Wednesday morning, refused to reveal the identity of the toppers. Chinmay Ghanekar, 18, is one of the top scorers, who scored 199 out of 200. “While I’m still hoping to get through to National Institute of Technology (NIT) with the JEE (Advanced) score, I’m glad that with my CET score, I will manage to get a seat [in either mechanical or computer science] in one of the best engineering institutes in the state,” said Chinmay, a Vile Parle resident.

Meshram said that while the number of students applying for engineering entrance examinations has increased this year compared to 2015, the number of seats available at engineering colleges has dropped. From 1.53 lakh seats that were open for admissions in 2015, the number has fallen by 15,000 this time round and stands at 1.38 lakh seats across various branches in engineering institutes across the state.

“Many engineering institutes came under the scanner of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for flouting rules and were shut down, while some institutes came forward to shut down certain branches of engineering that weren’t attracting enough students, resulting in fewer seats,” he said, adding that the process of registration for admissions to engineering institutes begins from Thursday at 12am.