CSAB (Central Seat Allocation Board) conducts counseling for applicants to any of the NITs (National Institutes of Technology) as well as several other GFTIs (Government Funded Technical Institutes), CFTIs (Centrally Funded Technical Institutes), State Funded Technical Institutes and SFTIs (Self Financed Technical Institutes) as well as the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) and the Indian Institute of Technology, Design and Manufacturing (IIITDM).

Students are admitted into both Engineering and Architecture courses offered by any of the above mentioned institutions only on the basis of their All India Rank (AIR) in the JEE (Main) through this counseling procedure.

The Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) conducts this online counseling procedure in 4 rounds, i.e. First Round, Second Round, Spot Round and Extra Spot Round. The 1^st round is for all the seats in Engineering and Architecture in the institutes. The subsequent rounds are for allocation of vacant seats.

Get an Overview of the Engineering Admissions in India.

What percentage of seats is the counseling conducted for?

The counseling is conducted for all the seats in the B.E/B.Tech and B.Arch courses offered by the institutes that participate in the CSAB counseling (including NITs and other institutes).

At the NITs, 50% of the seats are reserved for candidates from the state in which the institute is situated under the State Quota and 50% of the seats are reserved for candidates from across the country under the Other States Quota.

Keep in mind that you will be eligible to apply under the State Quota on the basis of the state your completed your Class 12^th from and not on the basis of your nativity. For example, if you belong to the state of West Bengal, but completed your Class 12^th from a school in Uttar Pradesh, then you will be eligible for the State Quota at the NITs in Uttar Pradesh and not in West Bengal.

Additionally, a candidate who is eligible for the State Quota at a particular institute cannot be admitted through the Other States category in that particular institute.

In most other institutions apart from the NITs, all the seats are open to candidates from across the country and there is no reservation on the basis of State Quota. However, it is strongly advisable to go through the reservation details of the institute you wish to apply to.

What are the eligibility criteria to apply for the counseling?

To be eligible for the counseling, you will need to meet all the eligibility criteria that applies to the JEE (Main) examination and have a valid All India Rank in the same.

Additionally, to apply for the B.E/B.Tech courses, you should have passed your Class 12^th examination or its equivalents with Physics, Math and Chemistry/Biology/Biotechnology/Computer Science as your main subjects with an aggregate percentage of not less than 50%.

To apply for the B.Arch courses, you should have passed your Class 12^th examination or its equivalents with Math as a compulsory subject with an aggregate percentage of not less than 50%.

Before you decide the colleges you wish to apply to, it is essential that you go through the individual eligibility criteria that applies to the institute/course you wish to join. 

Going through individual eligibility criteria is extremely important as some institutes/courses have certain restrictions with regards to gender, academic qualifications and several other criteria for certain courses.

What is the counseling procedure?

To apply for the counseling, you will first need to register on the CSAB website by entering your personal information (JEE – Main Roll Number etc.) along with your bank account details. To register, please visit the following website: http://www.csab.nic.in/

Once you complete the registration process, you will be able to make your institute/course choices (in order of preference) from the ones that are visible. You will only be able to see the choices you’re eligible for (depends upon your reservation category etc.).

It can be helpful to go through the JEE (Main) rankings that were accepted by a particular college last year. This will give you an idea about the reputation of the college and whether you stand a genuine chance of getting in or not.

You will have to confirm/lock your choices in due time. Keep in mind that you will not be able to change your choices once they’ve been locked.

Visit the CSAB website once the allotment results of the 1^st Round have been announced. In case you’ve been allotted a seat, you will need to visit the specified ‘Reporting Center’ along with originals and copies of all your documents as well as make the initial fee deposit.

You will have to make the payment for the fee deposit in advance. You can pay online through a Debit/Credit Card or Net banking. Alternatively, you can pay through an e – Challan or through NEFT. You can also make the payment through a Demand Draft.

Once you make the payment and get your documents verified at the reporting center, you will be provided with a ‘Provisional Admission Letter’.

You will automatically be considered for upgradation/allocation of seats in the 2^nd round if you make the above payment and accept the seat, or if you’ve not been allotted a seat in the 1^st round.

The second round counseling will be conducted in due time and you will need to check whether your seat has been upgraded (if allotted a seat earlier) or if you have been allotted a seat or not (if not allotted a seat in the 1^st round).

If you receive a higher preference seat in the 2^nd round (upgradation), then you will need to forfeit the seat you had been allocated in the 1^st round.

In case you’ve been allotted a seat in the 2^nd round (for candidates who were not allocated a seat in round 1), you will have to get your documents verified and make the payment at the Reporting Center. An upgradation of seats allocated in the 1^st and 2^nd round will take place subsequently (if possible).

If you’re allotted a seat in the 1^st or the 2^nd round, but do not accept the seat by reporting at the designated center with the documents and fee deposit, then your allocated seat will be cancelled and you will not be eligible for any further rounds of counseling.

After the 2^nd round of counseling and upgradation gets over, CSAB conducts a ‘Spot Round’ and an ‘Extra Spot Round’ for candidates who have not been allotted a seat yet and candidates who are eligible but had not registered in time for the 1^st round of counseling.

You will need to fill in your choices for the Spot Round and the Extra Spot Round before the Spot Round begins. Keep in mind that you cannot make an identical choice for both rounds (cannot select same institute and same course as a choice for both rounds).

The Extra Spot Round is for candidates who are not allotted seats in the Spot Round. Keep in mind that only Private Colleges participate in the ‘Extra Spot Round’.

Candidates who had not registered earlier will need to register using the CSAB website mentioned above for the Spot Round and Extra Spot Round.

Check whether you’ve been allotted a seat in either of these rounds once the results have been announced. If you’re allocated a seat in either of these rounds, then visit the Reporting Center and get your documents verified and make the fee deposit.

Keep in mind that this fee deposit will not be refunded if you choose to withdraw or not accept a seat allocated to you in the Spot Round.

However, if you were not allocated a seat in the Spot Round, the deposit will be refunded to you irrespective of whether you’re allocated a seat in the Extra Spot Round or not.

Important Dates for CSAB Counseling 2014: