In 2023, the Gujarat government informed the legislative assembly that over 44 percent of engineering seats, encompassing both self-financed institutes, remained unoccupied. This translates to more than 62,000 vacant seats across the state in the same year.
Furthermore, official data presented in the state legislative assembly revealed that in the previous year, more than 32 percent of seats in Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Computer Application (MCA) courses, totaling 7,742 seats, were left vacant.
State Higher and Technical Education Minister Rushikesh Patel disclosed that across various government-run, grant-in-aid, and self-financed colleges in Gujarat, there are a total of 1,40,852 seats available for engineering degree and diploma courses. Among these, 71,629 seats are designated for degree engineering courses, while 69,223 seats are allocated for diploma engineering courses.
Patel elaborated that out of the 1,40,852 seats, 78,540 seats (55.76 percent) were filled in the previous year, leaving 62,311 seats (44.23 percent) vacant across degree and diploma courses. Specifically, 38,811 seats of degree engineering and 23,501 seats of diploma engineering remained unfilled in 2023.
Addressing the reasons behind the high number of vacant seats, Minister Patel cited factors such as fewer registrations compared to available seats and students’ preference for admissions in prestigious engineering institutes like IIT and NIT, both in India and abroad.
Additionally, Patel highlighted that since admission criteria for diploma colleges only require passing Class 10, seats often remain vacant as students opt to pursue higher education in Class 11 or enroll in alternative courses such as IIT and nursing. This information was conveyed in his written response to the assembly.
