CSAB Special Round Counselling 2026 commenced on July 28, and the data on vacant seats was released by the admission authority. Surprisingly, the number of vacant seats has been higher than in the last 3 years. This year, 15,423 seats are vacant in NITs, IIITs and GFTIs. While the number of seats in NITs and IIITs is low, GFTIs have the maximum vacant seats.

Among GFTIs, BIT Mesra has 678 vacant seats, followed by 493 in the School of Studies in Engineering & Technology, GGV Bilaspur; 489 in Gurukula Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar; 477 in Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering & Technology (SLIET); and 352 in IIIT Senapati, Manipur. 114 institutes are participating in the special round counselling.

As per the official data, over 5200 seats are vacant in NITs, 3800 in IIITs and over 6400 seats in GFTIs. The last date to fill the choices is August 3. There will be a tentative/ mock allotment result on July 31.

Last year, 13,727 seats were vacant after JoSAA, whereas the number of vacant seats was 12,759 and 11,149 in 2024 and 2023 respectively. This is the first time that over 15000 seats are vacant for the special round counselling.

While filling the choices, the candidates must check the specific institute's vacant seats course and category-wise. If there are no vacant seats for your category in a specific institute or course, it is advisable to not choose that institute in the choice filling form. For the available seats, it is important to fill as many choices and possible to enhance the admission possibilities.

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