Karnataka government to fill management quota engineering seats of private and deemed universities through Karnataka Examinations Authority

Published 14 July 2026 · india

The Karnataka government has decided to fill engineering management quota seats through the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA). The State government issued an order in this

The Karnataka government has decided to fill engineering management quota seats through the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA). The State government issued an order in this regard and said if private and deemed universities wish to surrender management quota seats, they must do so within 15 days of the commencement of the first round of CET counselling by KEA. The surrendered seats will be allocated through KEA as per the rules, it stated. KEA has already started the CET counselling process for admission to professional courses including engineering and others for 2026-27 and has announced the provisional results of the first round of seat allocation. There are a total of 28 private and 11 deemed universities in the State. While 37,690 engineering seats are available in private universities, 2,400 are available in deemed universities for 2026-27. KEA fills the government quota seats in all engineering colleges in the State through CET counselling. As per the consensual agreement with the Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges Association (KUPECA), the colleges have given up 45% of their seats to the government.

The remaining 30% seats are filled through the national level COMED-K entrance exam, 15% seats are filled as Non-Resident Indian (NRI) quota and 10% seats as management quota seats. In colleges under the Karnataka Religious and Linguistic Minority Professional Colleges Association (KRLMPCA) and Association of Minority Professional Colleges in Karnataka (AMPCK), 40% seats are filled as government quota seats, 30% seats are filled through separate entrance tests conducted by these associations, 20% seats are filled as NRI quota and 10% as management quota seats. Among private universities, 40% seats are given to the government quota. The remaining seats are filled as management quota seats. However, there are no government quota seats in deemed universities, and all seats are filled as management quota seats. These universities conduct separate entrance tests or allocate seats only to candidates who have secured ranks in JEE. Earlier, most private engineering colleges, after getting permission from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), increased the seats in Computer Science Engineering (CSE) and related courses.

In some colleges, 3,000 to 3,500 seats were available in CSE and related engineering courses. After the seats were not filled in the first round, last year, COMED-K surrendered about 18,000 seats to KEA and requested the authority to fill it. Similarly, many private colleges had also surrendered thousands of management quota seats to KEA. The State government then implemented the Prof. S. Sadagopan Committee report this year to streamline engineering education, and as per its recommendations, a seat cap has been imposed on all private colleges. However, sources said that some private and deemed universities, which have taken advantage of the recent change of power in the State, have also obtained consent and a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for seat enhancement in CSE and related courses against the government order. H. Prasanna, Executive Director, KEA, said, “Currently, the CET counselling process is under way and if private and deemed universities surrender management quota seats as per the government’s decision, they will be filled through KEA itself.” Fee fixation For the current academic year, the government has fixed the tuition fee at ₹88,000 for government quota engineering seats in private and deemed universities.