3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Aug 12, 2026 10:36 AM IST
The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) granted Letters of Approval (LoAs) to 5,099 new institutions in the 2024-25 academic year, adding a total approved intake of 7,49,872 seats, according to the council’s Annual Report 2024-25. The expansion was driven primarily by computer applications and management, while engineering and technology accounted for a much smaller share of the newly approved capacity.
Computer Applications recorded 3,959 approved institutions with a combined intake of 3,65,848 students, the highest among the programmes listed by AICTE. Management followed with 3,500 approved institutions and an approved intake of 3,47,644.
Together, Computer Applications and Management accounted for more than 7.1 lakh of the 7.5 lakh seats approved across new institutions during the year.
In comparison, Engineering and Technology had 107 approved institutions, with an intake of 34,045 seats. Its approved intake was less than one-tenth of the capacity approved in either Computer Applications or Management.
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The AICTE report also recorded approvals for smaller programmes. Design had 17 approved institutions with an intake of 1,385, while Hotel Management and Catering had eight institutions with 790 seats. Applied Arts and Crafts and Planning accounted for one and three institutions, with approved intakes of 60 and 100, respectively.
The AICTE data also show that the expansion was concentrated at the undergraduate level. Of the 7,49,872 approved seats, 7,05,408, or about 94 per cent, were undergraduate seats. Postgraduate programmes accounted for 29,974 seats, while diploma programmes accounted for 14,490 seats.
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Engineering and Technology had 107 approved institutions, with an intake of 34,045 seats. (Data: AICTE report)
The expansion marks a significant increase from the previous year in several categories. AICTE’s 2023-24 data showed 90 unique new institutions under Engineering and Technology, with a combined approved intake of 41,512 across diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Of these, 51 institutions had diploma approvals, 42 had undergraduate approvals, and four had postgraduate approvals.
In 2023-24, Management accounted for 105 unique institutions and 13,020 approved seats, all at the postgraduate level, while MCA had 53 unique institutions with an approved intake of 4,890 seats. Unlike the 2024-25 report, the 2023-24 table did not have a separate category for Computer Applications.
The 2023-24 data also recorded six new Design institutions with 300 approved seats, four Applied Arts and Crafts institutions with 440 seats, two Planning institutions with 58 seats, and one Hotel Management and Catering institution with 120 seats.