Over 44% of engineering seats remained vacant in Gujarat in 2023: Govt

More than 44 percent of engineering seats, including self-financed institutes, in the state, were left vacant in 2023, the Gujarat government told the legislative assembly on Thursday. This accounts for more than 62,000 seats lying vacant in the state in 2023.
Also, more than 32 percent of seats in Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Computer Application (MCA) courses that account for 7,742 seats remained vacant in the previous year, as per the official data tabled in the state legislative assembly.
State Higher and Technical Education Minister Rushikesh Patel said various government-run, grant-in-aid and self-financed colleges have 1,40,852 seats of engineering degree and diploma courses in Gujarat. Of these 1,40,852 seats, 71,629 are of degree engineering courses, while 69,223 are of diploma engineering courses, he said.
The minister informed the House that 78,540 seats (55.76 percent) were filled last year, while 62,311 seats (44.23 percent) of these degree and diploma courses remained vacant. A total of 38,811 seats of degree engineering and as many as 23,501 seats of diploma engineering remained vacant in 2023, Patel said.
Citing reasons for the situation of seats remaining vacant, the minister said less registration in comparison to available seats and students opting for admissions in top engineering institutes, such as IIT and NIT, in India and abroad could be some of the reasons for the situation.
Since the criteria for admission in diploma colleges is passing Class 10, seats remain vacant as students opt for studying in Class 11 or go for other courses, such as IIT and nursing, Patel said in his written reply.