The five newer Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) — Tirupati, Dharwad, Palakkad, Jammu, and Bhilai — will each add 200 new undergraduate seats annually for the next five years. According to the latest discussions in the Union Education Ministry, this expansion will nearly double their current student intake. These IITs have traditionally admitted between 250 and 280 students per year.
Current Admission Trends and Projected Growth
In 2024, among the newer IITs, IIT Dharwad led with 385 seats, while IIT Palakkad offered 200 seats. IIT Tirupati had over 250 seats, and IIT Jammu and IIT Bhilai each had around 280 seats. With the proposed expansion, these institutions will collectively increase their annual undergraduate intake by approximately 1,500 seats, significantly contributing to India’s technical education landscape.
Budgetary Support for Growth
The Union Budget 2025 has allocated funds for adding 6,500 new undergraduate seats across these five IITs in a phased manner. Currently, the 23 IITs in India admit over 17,700 undergraduate students each year. With this expansion, the intake is set to exceed 24,000 students over the next five years.
Challenges in Immediate Implementation
As reported by theeconomictimes.com, the ministry initially considered increasing seats as early as 2024. However, officials noted that infrastructure constraints and faculty availability pose significant challenges. Accommodating 200 additional students per IIT requires expanded residential and classroom facilities. Additionally, ensuring an adequate faculty-to-student ratio remains a concern. While some seat increases are being explored this year, the full expansion is more likely to take off in 2026.
Infrastructure Upgrades and Funding
The education ministry is engaging with IITs to assess infrastructure requirements, funding needs, and implementation timelines. The budgetary allocation for IITs has increased from ₹10,324 crore in 2024 to ₹11,349 crore in 2025, reflecting a 9.92% rise. This increase is expected to support the creation of necessary facilities for student expansion.
Despite these planned expansions, the demand for IIT admissions remains high. In 2024, fewer than 50,000 students secured IIT seats out of over 12 lakh aspirants. The government and various committees have long recognized the need to expand IIT seats to alleviate exam pressures and reduce reliance on intensive coaching.
Historical Challenges in Seat Expansion
The IIT Council had previously announced in 2016 an ambitious plan to increase IIT seats to one lakh by 2020. However, this target remains far from being achieved, even in 2025.
Apart from funding constraints—where government expenditure per student exceeds ₹6 lakh per annum—other hurdles include infrastructure limitations and the ongoing challenge of recruiting high-quality faculty. These factors continue to impact the pace of expansion in India’s premier technical institutions.
