21,000 empty BTech seats: West Bengal gives colleges till Oct 31 to fill them
By TUF News Desk · Published 14 October 2026 · 3 min read
Fact-checked against 2+ independent sources · Editorial policy
West Bengal still has about 21,000 empty BTech seats, and colleges now have until October 31 to fill them. On October 13, the state higher education department allowed government institutes to hold decentralised counselling at the campus level, online or offline, for vacant seats in BTech, pharmacy and architecture programmes.
The permission is a one-time relaxation. Institutes have to complete the process by October 31 and get the admitted students onto their rolls.
Classes are already running late
State-run universities welcomed the move. First-semester undergraduate classes are behind schedule, and the hope is that seats fill quickly so the academic session can get moving.
Higher education minister Jagannath Chattopadhyay recently posted that 27,599 seats were filled through e-counselling and the online decentralised rounds, which is 11,870 more than last year. Even so, around 21,000 of the total 48,683 BTech seats are still vacant.
What this changes
This year was already different. After three rounds of online counselling, the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations Board ran the decentralised rounds centrally through its Decentralised Counselling Admission Portal (DCAP). In earlier years, individual institutes handled decentralised counselling themselves on the basis of WBJEE ranks.
The latest decision hands that control back to the institutes: each one can now choose whether to run its own counselling online or offline.
The seat matrix for the first decentralised phase had 33,857 BTech seats on offer across government and private institutes, as reported by Shiksha. Some of the biggest names had hundreds of vacancies. Jadavpur University had 383 seats open, the University of Calcutta had 193, Heritage Institute of Technology had 453, Techno Main Salt Lake had 545, Sister Nivedita University had 745, and Kalyani Government Engineering College had 117.
Why the campuses pushed for this
The decision follows pressure from the colleges themselves. The vice-chancellors of Jadavpur University and the University of Calcutta had asked the government to scrap the centralised online decentralised counselling and let universities run the traditional offline process.
Jadavpur vice-chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee wrote to the higher education department asking for permission to conduct offline decentralised counselling based on WBJEE ranks. After the centralised counselling, Calcutta University had more than 140 BTech seats vacant, nearly 30 per cent of its 478, while Jadavpur had over 230 vacant, about 19 per cent of its 1,190.
What students should do now
The notice asks every institute to publish course-wise vacancy details, eligibility criteria, admission procedures and its schedule on its own website and in the media. Students eyeing a seat should watch the websites of individual colleges closely rather than waiting for a central announcement.
They can also track the official WBJEEB portal for updates on the decentralised rounds.
Keep the paperwork ready. Campus reporting usually needs Class 10 and 12 marksheets, domicile and category certificates, and a photo ID; the admission documents checklist covers what most colleges ask for.
Frequently asked questions
Which courses does the October 31 deadline cover?
Vacant seats in BTech, pharmacy and architecture programmes at government institutes in West Bengal.
Where can I find the list of vacant seats?
Institutes must publish course-wise vacancy details, eligibility, admission procedure and schedule on their own websites and in the media. Check the websites of the colleges you are interested in, and the official WBJEEB portal.
What is decentralised counselling?
It is the process of filling seats left vacant after the main counselling rounds. Earlier it was handled by individual institutes; this year the WBJEE Board ran it centrally online through the DCAP portal for the first time.
How many BTech seats are still empty in West Bengal?
About 21,000 of the total 48,683 BTech seats remain vacant after e-counselling and the online decentralised rounds.
Frequently asked questions
Which courses does the October 31 deadline cover?
Vacant seats in BTech, pharmacy and architecture programmes at government institutes in West Bengal.
Where can I find the list of vacant seats?
Institutes must publish course-wise vacancy details, eligibility, admission procedure and schedule on their own websites and in the media. Check the websites of the colleges you are interested in, and the official WBJEEB portal.
What is decentralised counselling?
It is the process of filling seats left vacant after the main counselling rounds. Earlier it was handled by individual institutes; this year the WBJEE Board ran it centrally online through the DCAP portal for the first time.
How many BTech seats are still empty in West Bengal?
About 21,000 of the total 48,683 BTech seats remain vacant after e-counselling and the online decentralised rounds.
Sources: The Times of India, Shiksha