Engineering education in India

India is one of the largest producers of engineers in the world. Yet, more than 70% of engineers are unemployed due to severe competition, and by some estimates only 7-8% of engineering graduates are actually employable.

In India, there are several engineering colleges imparting undergraduate and graduate courses in engineering, applied engineering and sciences.

History

See also: List of Indian engineering colleges before 1947

The impulse for creation of centers of technical training came from the British Raj rulers of India. While Superintending Engineers were mostly recruited from Britain, lower grades e.g. Craftsmen, Artisans and sub-overseers who were recruited locally. The necessity to make them more efficient, led to the establishment of industrial schools attached to Indian Ordnance Factories and other engineering establishments.

The first engineering college was established in the Uttar Pradesh in 1847 for the training of Civil Engineers at Roorkee, Thomason College (which later become IIT Roorkee) which made use of the large workshops and public buildings there that were erected for the Upper Ganges Canal.

In pursuance of the Government policy, three Engineering Colleges were opened by about 1856 in the three Presidencies. In Bengal Presidency, a College called the Calcutta College of Civil Engineering (which later became Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur) was opened at the Writers' Building in November 1856. In Bombay Presidency, the Overseers' School at Pune eventually became the College of Engineering, Pune and was affiliated to the Bombay University in 1858. In the Madras Presidency, the industrial school attached to the Gun Carriage Factory became ultimately the College of Engineering, Guindy and affiliated to the Madras University (1858).

Indian Institutes of Technology

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has 23 centers located in Bhubaneswar, Bombay, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jodhpur, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, Mandi, Patna, Roorkee, Ropar, Dhanbad, Palakkad, Tirupati, Bhilai, Goa, Jammu, Dharwad and Varanasi. All IITs enjoy the status of the Institutes of National Importance and are autonomous universities that draft their own curricula. Many IITs are members of LAOTSE, an international network of universities in Europe and Asia. LAOTSE membership allows the IITs to exchange students and senior scholars with universities in other countries.

Admission to undergraduate B.Tech and integrated M.Tech programs are through JEE Advanced (the Joint Entrance Examination Advanced) in which around 150,000 students appear annually out of which only around 11,032 get selected. These 150,000 students are initially sorted out by the JEE Mains (Joint Entrance Examination Mains) which is conducted by the central board ( Delhi). Around 1.3 million students appear for this exam. Admission to most postgraduate courses in IITs is granted through various written entrance examinations: GATE (for M.Tech.), JAM (for M.Sc.) and CEED (for M.Des.). The admission for Ph.D. program is based primarily on a personal interview, though candidates may also have to appear for written tests. The IITs are also well known for their special reservation policy, which is significantly different from the one applied in other educational institutions of India.

Indian Institutes of Engineering Science and Technology

Indian Institutes of Engineering Science and Technology (abbreviated as IIEST) are a group of academic institutions in India for research and education in engineering. These were originally proposed by the Government of India in 2007 to meet the increasing demand for technological and scientific workforce in the industrial and service sectors of India as well as the growing need for qualified personnel in research and development. It was decided that the institutes under the banner of IIEST were to be created by upgrading existing engineering colleges or universities under the various State governments of India through an act of the Parliament of India, instead of founding completely new institutes. After upgrading, these institutes would also be granted the status of "Institutes of National Importance (INI)". The first institute to be upgraded to IIEST was Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, which was a university under the Government of West Bengal prior to the upgrade process.

Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani

Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani is an Indian institute of higher education and a deemed university under Section 3 of the UGC Act. BITS Pilani is one of the pioneers in modern engineering pedagogy. The university has 15 academic departments, and focuses primarily on undergraduate education in engineering and the sciences.

The institute was established in its present form in 1964. BITS Pilani has established centres at Goa, Pilani, Hyderabad and Dubai

Indian Institute of Information Technology

Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) are a group of four institutes of higher education in India, focused on information technology. They are established by the central government, centrally funded, and managed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

• Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad (IIIT Allahabad) (Dean Sayed Akif)
• Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Gwalior (IIITM-G)
• Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur (IIITDM Jabalpur)
• Indian Institute of Information Technology Design & Manufacturing Kancheepuram (IIITDM Kancheepuram)

National Institutes of Technology

The National Institutes of Technology (NIT) are premier colleges of engineering and technology education in India. They have also been given the status of "Institutes of National Importance" by the Government of India. They were originally called Regional Engineering Colleges (RECs). In 2002, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, decided to upgrade, in phases, all the original 17 Regional Engineering Colleges (RECs) as National Institutes of Technology (NITs). There are currently 30 NITs, with the inception of 10 new NITs in the year 2010. The Government of India has introduced the National Institutes of Technology (NIT) Act 2010 to bring 30 such institutions within the ambit of the act and to provide them with complete autonomy in their functioning. The NITs are deliberately scattered throughout the country in line with the government norm of an NIT in every major state of India to promote regional development. The individual NITs, after the introduction of the NIT Act, have been functioning as autonomous technical universities and hence can draft their own curriculum and functioning policies.

The admission to undergraduate programs of all the NITs was done by the All India Engineering Entrance Examination popularly known as AIEEE. From the year 2013, AIEEE was replaced by JEE(Main)in which 40% weightage is given to the Higher Secondary results and 60% (as per new rules the weightage of marks in board has been changec and HS board percentage is not counted) weightage given to the JEE(Main) results. In addition to the NITs, a host of other well-known national level reputed institutes like DCE, NSIT, IIITs, PEC, Thapar University, DA-IICT, BIT Mesra accept students from the newly introduced examination. The examination is objective by nature and is conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education popularly known as the CBSE. More than fourteen lakh(1,400,000) applicants took part in 2013 for approximately 15500 seats in the B. Tech and B. Arch programmes available in all the NITs put together.

Other notable universities

Other notable universities providing engineering education include:

• Anna University, Chennai
• Delhi Technological University, New Delhi - one of the oldest engineering colleges in India and Delhi's first engineering college.
• Hindustan University
• Jadavpur University, Kolkata
• University of Mumbai, Mumbai
• Nirma University
• Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi, Karnataka - one of the largest universities in India, with 208 colleges affiliated to it with an intake capacity of over 467,100 undergraduate students and 12,666 postgraduate students.

The Institution of Engineers (India)

AMIE was established in 1920 in Kolkata, West Bengal and is acclaimed to have pioneered non-formal education in Engineering. IEI (I) conducts an examination for its Associate Membership(AMIE). This examination is considered to be on par with B.E. / B.Tech.[4] when contemplated as an eligibility qualification to write competitive examinations like the Indian Civil Service, Indian Engineering Services, GATE, etc., and for employment in Government, public and private sectors in India. This qualification is recognised by Ministry of HRD, Government of India as equivalent to B.E./ B.Tech.

There are 2 sections, namely Section A and Section B, who passed both of section he will be chartered engineer(CEng), chartered engineer(CEng) is considered as bachelor's degree in all National and International bodies.

Polytechnic Institutes

In India there are Institutions which offer three year diploma in engineering post Tenth class . These institutes have affiliation from state bord of technical education of respective state governments. after which one can apply for post of junior engineer or continue higher studies by appearing for exams of AMIE to become an engineering graduate.

• Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Institute of Technology.
• Calcutta Technical School , Kolkata
• Jnan Chandra Ghosh Polytechnic , Kolkata
• Sai Polytechnic College, Sri Sai University, Palampur Pathankot Amritsar.
• Pusa Polytechnic being one of the famous Polytechnic in India.
• Government Polytechnic, Mumbai.
• Government Polytechnic Lucknow.
• Government Polytechnic Nainital.
• Government Polytechnic Nilokheri.
• Government Polytechnic Barabanki.
• Government Polytechnic, Nagpur.
• Government Polytechnic, Anantnag, Jammu & Kashmir
• Government Polytechnic Solapur.

AICTE approved institutes by state

List of AICTE approved institutes by state, for the academic year 2017-2018:

S.No	State/Union Territory	Number of Engineering Institutes
1	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	1
2	Andhra Pradesh	825
3	Arunachal Pradesh	10
4	Assam	59
5	Bihar	124
6	Chandigarh	14
7	Chhattisgarh	124
8	Dadra and Nagar Haveli	3
9	Daman and Diu	2
10	Delhi	78
11	Goa	17
12	Gujarat	427
13	Haryana	416
14	Himachal Pradesh	67
15	Jammu & Kashmir	53
16	Jharkhand	73
17	Karnataka	756
18	Kerala	380
19	Madhya Pradesh	556
20	Maharashtra	1564
21	Manipur	4
22	Meghalaya	7
23	Mizoram	4
24	Nagaland	8
25	Orissa	303
26	Puducherry	29
27	Punjab	384
28	Rajasthan	402
29	Sikkim	5
30	Tamil Nadu	1339
31	Telangana	701
32	Tripura	13
33	Uttar Pradesh	1165
34	Uttarakhand	197
35	West Bengal	286
-	Total	10396

Corruption in Engineering Education

Some of the engineering colleges have been known for involving themselves in the illegal practice of capitation fee. All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the regulatory body for technical education in India, has called "upon the students, parents and the general public not to pay any capitation fee or any other fee other than that mentioned in the Prospectus of the Institutions for consideration of admission.". AICTE also mentions that the fee charged from students, has to be approved by the fee regulatory committee of the state, and the institute should mention the fee in its website. As per AICTE norms, the educational institutions are not meant to charge a fee higher than what is mentioned in the prospectus. Educational regulatory agencies such as UGC and regional level fee regulating bodies has mandated that an institution should include the fee in the prospectus.

See also

• List of Indian engineering colleges before 1947