Engineering seats down to lowest in a decade; 63 institutes to shut in 2021
With a steady stream of engineering colleges applying for closure since 2015-16 and a significant reduction in capacity across others, the total number of seats in engineering institutes in India has hit the lowest in a decade.
The latest data from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) show that engineering seats at the undergraduate, postgraduate and diploma levels have declined to 23.28 lakh — the lowest in at least 10 years. The reduction in seats this year, on account of institute closure and decreased admission capacity, is pegged at 1.46 lakh.
Despite the significant drop, engineering still accounts for 80 per cent of the total seats in the technical education space (also made up of architecture, management, hotel management and pharmacy, among others) in the country.
Engineering seats down to lowest in a decade; 63 institutes to shut in 2021
At its peak, in 2014-15, engineering education had almost 32 lakh seats across all AICTE-approved institutions. The drop is being attributed to the consolidation that started seven years ago, with reduced demand forcing colleges to shut down. Since then, roughly 400 engineering schools have wound up operations. Except for last year, which is when Covid-induced disruption was first witnessed, at least 50 engineering institutes have closed every year since 2015-16. This year, 63 have got AICTE’s nod for closure.
