The Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) on Friday, August 4, announced that 9,000 seats that had been dropped from the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) seat matrix will be added back. Following a meeting with higher education officials and the Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges Association (KUPECA), KEA Executive Director S Ramya said the 9,000 seats will be re-added for engineering courses, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express. 

To recall, earlier KEA had dropped as many as 9,000 KCET engineering seats from various colleges and universities. This was due to the institutions failing to supply various documents, including their No Objection Certificates (NOC). This had led to KEA refusing to admit students to these universities under the KCET, and omitting as many as 9,000 seats from the institutes altogether. These included seats from RV University, MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology and Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering.

However, due to the confusion caused by the issue, as well as appeals from KUPECA to postpone the counselling for KCET until the issue was resolved, a meeting was held with officials. According to Ramya, the seats are being re-added under certain conditions. She said the universities who had failed to supply their documents must do so within the stipulated time.

For the KCET candidates, this means that the seats will be available for allotment. Meanwhile, option entry for KCET candidates is set to begin today, August 5, in the evening, and will go on until August 9. This will be an option entry for all courses, including medical, dental and engineering courses, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.