Over 1,300 seats have been added across UG, PG, and PhD programmes at five third-generation IITs for the 2025-26 academic year, a senior Education Ministry official said on Saturday.
Of the total 1,364 new seats, IIT Bhilai has added the most with 378, followed by IIT Dharwad (343), IIT Jammu (251), IIT Tirupati (199), and IIT Palakkad (193).
“The seats are added in various courses at these IITs in accordance with the demands of the course as shared by the institutions. Approvals have been given for addition of seats for these IITs till 2028-29 in a phased manner,” said a senior official from the education ministry.
In the 2025-26 Union Budget, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced 6,500 additional seats for IITs established after 2014. Among the six new IITs set up between 2015 and 2016-Palakkad, Bhilai, Jammu, Dharwad, Tirupati, and Goa. IIT Goa was excluded from the expansion as it is yet to shift to a permanent campus, contrary to the original plan of all new IITs becoming fully operational within four years of establishment. On May 7, 2025, the Union Cabinet approved the expansion of academic and infrastructure capacity at the five IITs, with a total investment of ₹11,828.79 crore over four years (2025-26 to 2028-29).
Over the four academic years from 2025-26 to 2028-29, the five new IITs-Bhilai, Dharwad, Jammu, Palakkad, and Tirupati-will collectively add 6,576 seats.
Among them, IIT Bhilai will record the maximum addition of 1,485 seats, followed closely by IIT Dharwad with 1,473 seats. IIT Jammu will add 1,288 seats, IIT Palakkad 1,264, and IIT Tirupati 1,066. According to the expansion plan for 6,576 seats over four years, 1,364 seats have been added in 2025-26, followed by a planned addition of 1,738 seats in 2026-27, 1,767 seats in 2027-28, and 1,707 seats in 2028-29.
On completion of the expansion project, these five IITs will enroll 13,687 students against current student strength of 7,111 – an increase of 92.47%.
The Union Cabinet had approved the creation of 130 faculty posts in these IITs in May, and recruitment process has started, officials said.