In a major boost to higher education, over 1,300 seats have been added across undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD programmes at five third-generation Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) for the academic session 2025–26, a senior official from the Ministry of Education confirmed on Saturday.
A total of 1,364 new seats have been approved for IIT Bhilai (378), IIT Dharwad (343), IIT Jammu (251), IIT Tirupati (199), and IIT Palakkad (193). The additions have been made based on course-wise demands proposed by the respective institutions. The expansion has received formal approval for implementation in a phased manner till 2028–29.
This development follows Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Union Budget 2025-26 announcement regarding the addition of 6,500 seats for IITs established after 2014. Among the six new IITs set up between 2015 and 2016—Bhilai, Dharwad, Jammu, Palakkad, Tirupati, and Goa—only IIT Goa has been excluded due to the delay in transitioning to a permanent campus, which was initially expected within four years of establishment.
On May 7, 2025, the Union Cabinet approved a comprehensive expansion plan for academic and infrastructure capacity at these five IITs, backed by a funding commitment of ₹11,828.79 crore over four years.
As per the plan, the five IITs will together add 6,576 seats between 2025–26 and 2028–29. The seat distribution over the years will include 1,364 in 2025–26, 1,738 in 2026–27, 1,767 in 2027–28, and 1,707 in 2028–29. The maximum seat increase will occur at IIT Bhilai (1,485 seats), followed closely by IIT Dharwad (1,473 seats), IIT Jammu (1,288), IIT Palakkad (1,264), and IIT Tirupati (1,066).
Upon completion of the expansion, the combined student capacity across the five institutions will rise from 7,111 to 13,687, marking an increase of 92.47%. The Cabinet has also sanctioned the creation of 130 new faculty posts for these institutes, with the recruitment process currently underway.
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