The Maharashtra government has announced plans to hold the Common Entrance Test (CET) for engineering, pharmacy, and MBA courses twice a year beginning in the 2026-27 academic year. 

The move aims to reduce academic stress and provide students with an opportunity to improve their grades, akin to the national-level Joint Entrance Examination (JEE).

The announcement was made by Maharashtra’s Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Dada Patil yesterday, Tuesday, November 11, following a review meeting with senior officials. 

These officials include additional chief secretary B Venugopal Reddy, CET Cell commissioner Dilip Sardesai, director of higher education Shailendra Devlankar, and director of technical education Vinod Mohitkar, Hindustan Times reports.

He also stated that beginning in 2027, there will be a six-month interval between the two sessions to allow students to prepare more effectively. 

Every year, the project will assist more than 600,000 candidates from around the state.

In another significant step, the government intends to improve the state's examination infrastructure by constructing 20,000 computer-based exam systems across Maharashtra. 

Currently, there are only roughly 7,000 computers available for online tests, prompting the CET Cell to engage private computer centres.