81% of 1.72 lakh engg seats filled, highest enrolment in 10 years

THE Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) counselling for 2025-26 concluded on a high note, with 80.29% of the 1.72 lakh engineering seats filled—the highest enrolment recorded in the last decade and almost 10% higher than last year.

- BINITA JAISWAL @ Chennai

Of the 1,72,589 seats available across 423 colleges, 1,38,573 were filled through general academic counselling, leaving 34,016 vacant. Last year, only 71% of seats were filled. "In 2015, of the total 1.93 lakh engineering seats, more than 90,000 remained vacant. Every year since then, over 50,000 seats remained unfilled. This year's enrolment figures are overwhelming," said a professor of Anna University.

Officials attribute the surge to a combination of factors, including better campus placement records, growing demand for emerging technologies and decline in popularity of basic science and commerce courses.