Engineering colleges should explore new horizons

Engineering colleges should explore new horizons

Mangalore Today News Network

By Dr. G. Shreekumar Menon

Mangaluru, September 18, 2026: There are approximately 8000 plus engineering colleges in India, with more than 6000 being private engineering colleges, and 2000 plus engineering colleges being government institutions.

India’s engineering education system suffers from a severe quality divide, outdated curricula, and a lack of industry alignment outside of a few elite institutions. While elite schools like the IITs and NITs maintain high standards, thousands of tier-2 and tier-3 private colleges function with poor infrastructure, inadequate calibre of the faculty, and low student intake quality.

In 2026 a total of 24,283 engineering seats remain vacant across Karnataka after the final KCET Round 3 allocations, while 16,855 seats remain unfilled following COMEDK UGET Round 4. Even popular streams like Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) have seen notable vacancies (over 4,400 in COMEDK and thousands in KCET) due to market shifts and rising capacity, alongside traditional drops in Civil and Mechanical engineering.

In neighbouring Kerala, according to available statistics, at least 20,000 engineering seats remain vacant. Nearly 20 engineering colleges were shut down in the state in the past 10 years.

Tamil Nadu has the highest number of engineering colleges and engineering seats in India. Tamil Nadu has around 500 to 570+ engineering colleges, Tamil Nadu’s engineering admission data is revealing a sharp divide between colleges students actively prefer and those struggling to attract them. With 1.06 lakh seats vacant after Round 2, of TNEA 2026, 1,06,583 seats remained vacant, with only around 41% of the total seats filled so far, according to an analysis of the counselling data. The third round is still to come, so the final vacancy figure will be lower. 167 engineering colleges have reportedly filled less than 10% of their seats, while 23 have recorded zero admissions after two rounds.

A total of 58 engineering and technical colleges were closed progressively during 2025-26. Progressive closure means institute cannot admit the students for the first year during the academic year for which progressive closure is granted. 

Among the 58 institutions, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra accounted for the highest number of closures, with 12 each, followed by Madhya Pradesh (8), Telangana (4), and Punjab (4).

Three colleges each in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan were closed during the year, while two each in Gujarat, Karnataka, Pune and Tamil Nadu.
Haryana, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Bengal recorded one closure each.

Of the 58 institutions, three were government aided, while the rest were privately financed. Over 950 courses being offered in technical and engineering colleges across the country were also closed during the period.

How many engineers are unemployed in India? The India Skills Report 2025 found that 71.5% of B. Tech graduates are “employable” based on standardised skill tests. But the Unstop Talent Report 2025, which tracked actual hiring outcomes, found that 83% of 2024 engineering graduates had no job or internship offer at all. Both numbers are credible. Both point to the same underlying problem: a large gap between what engineering colleges teach and what employers actually need.

India produces roughly 1.5 million engineering graduates every year, one of the largest technical talent pools in the world. But, a large share of engineering graduates are compelled by circumstances to take non-engineering roles, and some are even accepting jobs as food delivery agents and Uber drivers. A few lucky ones make it into the Civil Services.

Only 46.1% of candidates for AI/ML roles, the highest-demand category, are considered job-ready, despite India needing 1 million AI-skilled professionals by 2026, up from 416,000 in 2023 (NASSCOM).

India adds engineering seats faster than the industry adds engineering jobs. With 1.5 million graduates a year chasing a smaller pool of quality roles, supply overwhelms demand, especially in traditional branches.

India’s aggressive push to build manufacturing capabilities in sunrise sectors like semiconductors, electronics, renewable energy, and electric mobility faces a significant shortage of skilled, industry-ready employees. While the overall workforce has expanded, employers indicate that finding candidates with the requisite technical skills and hands-on experience remains heavily limited. INDIA’ push to build manufacturing capabilities in sunrise sectors such as semiconductors, electronics, renewable energy and electric mobility is running into a shortage of skilled, industry-ready employees.

According to TeamLease EdTech, India’s semiconductor manufacturing sector could face a shortage of 2.5 lakh-3 lakh professionals by 2027, particularly in chip design, manufacturing, R&D, and advanced packaging. As manufacturing becomes increasingly software defined and automated, the growing demand will be for engineers who can work across embedded systems, industrial AI, automation and digital manufacturing.

Another growing field is aerospace engineering, which is evolving into a multidisciplinary field, where engineering, computing, artificial intelligence, robotics and space technology converge. The growing expansion of private space industry is opening new job opportunities in spacecraft development, mission planning, space based communication and related technologies. Another new avenue is the developing drone technology, which rely on aerodynamics, navigation, control systems, and embedded electronics. The future of aerospace engineering is vast.

Engineering colleges need to adopt to the changing environment, by offering new courses in emerging fields. The future of engineering belongs to those who build what does not yet exist by merging technology, science, and imagination into entirely new disciplines. As humanity faces fresh challenges like climate change, artificial intelligence, and space exploration, engineering is shifting from traditional roles into fascinating new frontier fields, and colleges should accordingly modify their courses and disciplines. As the nation transitions into an advanced Smart Nation, engineering is moving away from traditional construction or manufacturing toward high-tech sectors like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Smart Manufacturing, Quantum Engineering, and Climate Tech. India’s engineering colleges need to suitably revise their curriculum, training and internship to cater to the new technological advancements.  

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Dr. G. Shreekumar Menon, IRS (Rtd), Ph.D. (Narcotics)

Former Director General of National Academy of Customs Indirect Taxes and Narcotics & Multi-Disciplinary School Of Economic Intelligence India; Fellow, James Martin Centre For Non Proliferation Studies, USA; Fellow, Centre for International Trade & Security, University of Georgia, USA; Public Administration, Maxwell School of Public Administration, Syracuse University, U.S.A.; AOTS Scholar, Japan. He can be contacted at shreemenon48@gmail.com