Ahmedabad, July 13: Sale, Sale! Not for clothes or gadgets, but for seats in private engineering colleges in Gujarat. Fearing vacant seats, private engineering colleges in Gujarat have begun offering heavy discounts on tuition fees. According to a report in Ahmedabad mirror, an institute in Gujarat is offering tuition fee as low as Rs 2,500 per year.

This is because institutes are facing closure under the All Indian Council for Technical Education (AICTE) norms. According to AICTE data, out of 15.5 lakh engineering courses seats in 3,291 engineering colleges in India, over 50 per cent were vacant in 2016-17. In 2015-16, half of 14.76 lakh engineering seats remained vacant.

According to the Ahmedabad Mirror report, this year, at the end of Round I of admissions for 55,422 seats, 34,642 seats remained vacant. This has gotten engineering institutes worried with them going all out to woo students one way or the other.

According to the report, some institutes are also offering free laptops and two-wheelers on getting admission confirmed. Institutes have also reportedly hired commission agents to get students to apply for admissions.

This comes at a time when there are concerns over unskilled youth in the country. Tech Mahindra CEO and MD CP Gurnani had recently said that at least 94 per cent of engineering graduates in the country were not fit for hiring.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 13, 2018 11:18 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).