The total number of seats across India’s 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has significantly increased over the past decade, rising from 65,000 to 1.35 lakh, according to Sukanta Majumdar, Minister of State for Education. The minister provided this information in a written response to the Lok Sabha on 10 March.
Majumdar was addressing a query regarding whether the government had expanded IIT seats by over 100% and about the additional infrastructure developments, particularly in IIT Patna and IIT Delhi, to accommodate 6,500 more students.
He confirmed that the 2025-26 Budget includes provisions for expanding infrastructure at five IITs established after 2014, including IIT Patna, to enhance hostel and academic facilities. “In Budget 2025-26, it has been announced to create additional infrastructure in the five IITs started after 2014 to facilitate education for 6,500 more students,” Majumdar stated.
Additionally, he highlighted that IIT Hyderabad, IIT Kanpur, IIT-BHU Varanasi, IIT Tirupati, and IIT Patna are now fully operational from their permanent campuses. The government has allocated over ₹1,830 crore in the 2024-25 financial year to support their development.
Meanwhile, IIT Madras has introduced a new admission pathway for undergraduate students excelling in national and international Olympiads. Dubbed ‘Science Olympiad Excellence’ (ScOpE), this initiative allows top-performing students direct admission outside the JEE (Advanced) framework, starting from the 2025-26 academic year. Each programme will have two supernumerary seats, one reserved for female candidates.
Applications for the first batch under ScOpE will open on 3 June 2025. Detailed admission guidelines are available on the IIT Madras website.
