Engineering colleges cut back on growth

Updated on: Friday, June 17, 2011

There was a time when India used to add nearly one lakh seats to its professional colleges every year. This time around, a measly 175 engineering and management colleges with about 50, 000 seats will start operations across the country, signalling the slowing of this sector. Yet, one pattern prevails: expansion is uneven. Five Indian states continue to propel the increase – Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

This year, Maharashtra has added 5, 640 engineering seats and student intake in management colleges will be up by 1, 080. Last year, the total number of seats in professional colleges rose by about 20, 000 in the state. “Across India, growth has dampened because of two reasons: our norms are now a lot more structured and specific now. So managements wanting to start new colleges can no longer fudge their documents. Secondly, there is a perception that seats are lying vacant and entrepreneurs are a bit wary about starting new institutes,” said SS Mantha, chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

Engineering colleges cut back on growth

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