32,000 new seats in tech colleges

 Hyderabad : The number of engineering colleges in the state has crossed the 700-mark, the highest in the country, with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approving 26 new engineering colleges and 23 integrated campuses.

With this, 32,000 seats have been added to the already existing 2.26 lakh seats in 656 engineering colleges in the state, taking the total number of seats to 2.52 lakh in 705 colleges. This was conveyed to the state government by the AICTE officials on Friday.

With the admissions for engineering, pharmacy, MBA and MCA courses being delayed by a month, top officials from the higher education department rushed to New Delhi to meet the AICTE chairman, Dr S.S. Mantha, for clarification on the renewal of approvals for existing colleges and fresh approvals for new colleges.

The four-member delegation comprising Prof K.C. Reddy, chairman, APSCHE, Mr C.R. Biswal, principal secretary (higher education), Mr Laxminarayana, commissioner of technical education, and Prof. D.N. Reddy, VC, JNTU-Hyderabad, met the AICTE officials. Though AICTE had fixed deadline of June 30 for granting renewals and new approvals from this year, it failed to follow the schedule.