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JEE Main Counselling 2026: Dates, Eligibility, and Seat Matrix Explained

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JEE Main Test Series 2026

Important Dates and Key Information for JEE Main Counselling 2026

The JEE Main Counselling 2026 is a important phase for candidates looking to secure seats in top engineering colleges like NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs across India. Conducted by the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA), the JEE Main counselling process includes online registration, choice filling, seat allotment, and final admission confirmation.

For the academic year 2025–26, the JEE Main counselling dates will be announced soon after the JEE Main results. Students must carefully review the JEE Main counselling eligibility criteria, complete the registration, and pay the required counselling fees before the last date to confirm participation.

If you’re wondering when counselling starts for JEE Main 2026, it is expected to begin in the last week of June 2026. Stay updated to know the detailed JEE Main counselling schedule, process steps, and important documents required for a hassle-free admission.

JEE Main Counselling 2026 Dates (Expected)

S.No	Events	Dates
1.	Start of counselling for JEE Mains 2026 registration and choice filling	June 2026
2.	Mock Seat Allocation-1	June 2026
3.	Mock Seat Allocation-2	June 2026
4.	JEE Main Round 1 seat allotment	June 2026
5.	JEE Main Round 2 seat allotment	June 2026
6.	JEE Main Round 3 seat allotment	July 2026
7.	JEE Main Round 4 seat allotment	July 2026
8.	JEE Main Round 5 seat allotment	July 2026
9.	Locking of Choices	July 2026
10.	Data Reconciliation & Verification	July 2026

JEE Main Counselling 2026- Types of Counselling

The JEE Main Counselling 2026 is conducted through three main processes, each catering to different categories of participating institutes and candidates.

1. JoSAA (Joint Seat Allocation Authority): This is the combined counselling process for candidates who qualify in JEE Main and JEE Advanced. JoSAA manages seat allotment for over 110 premier engineering institutes, including all IITs, NITs, IIITs, and Government-Funded Technical Institutes (GFTIs) across India.

2. CSAB NEUT (North Eastern States and Union Territories): Organised by the Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB), this counselling is meant for the additional seats available in the North Eastern states and Union Territories to promote engineering education in these regions.

3. CSAB SFTI (Self-Financing Technical Institutes): The CSAB SFTI counselling is conducted separately for 18 self-financing technical institutes (SFTIs). Seat allocation here is strictly based on the candidate’s JEE Main All India Rank (AIR) in Paper 1 or Paper 2, and the order of preferences submitted during registration.

What is the Difference Between JoSAA and CSAB Counselling?

JoSAA and CSAB are both important entities involved in the seat allocation process for engineering and other technical courses in India after the JEE Main Exam, but they cater to different stages and institutions:

JoSAA (Joint Seat Allocation Authority) Counselling

Conducts six rounds of seat allocation for IITs, NITs, IIITs, GFTIs, and other participating institutions.
Eligible candidates must have qualified in JEE Main and JEE Advanced.
Offers various branches and specialisations within these institutions.
Once JoSAA completes its rounds, vacant seats in some NITs, IIITs, and other institutions may arise.

JEE Main JoSAA Councelling 2026

CSAB (Central Seat Allocation Board) Counselling

Conducts two special rounds of seat allocation only for NITs, IIITs, and other participating institutions (excluding IITs).
These rounds are specifically for filling the vacant seats remaining after JoSAA's completion.
Eligible candidates include:

Those who did not participate in JoSAA counselling.
Those who participated in JoSAA but did not get a seat or want to upgrade their seat.

Offers the same branches and specializations as available in the CSAB institutes during JoSAA.

Note: Remember, you can apply for both JoSAA and CSAB if you meet the eligibility criteria.

Important Documents Required for JEE Main Counselling

Candidates will need to provide several documents during the JEE Main Counselling process. Some of the important documents include:

JEE Main Admit Card and Scorecard
Class 10 and 12 Marksheet and Passing Certificate
Category Certificate (if applicable)
Domicile Certificate (if applicable)
Passport-size Photographs
Photo Identity Proof

It is important to note that candidates will need to carry both the original and photocopies of these documents to the counselling centre.

What are the steps involved in the JEE Main Counselling 2026?

Before the official JoSAA 2026 counselling dates are released, two mock rounds will be conducted to help candidates understand the entire counselling workflow.

The complete JEE Main 2026 counselling process involves several key steps — registration, choice filling, seat allotment, fee payment, and final reporting.

Step 1: Registration for JEE Main Counselling

Visit the official JoSAA website.
Log in using your JEE Main roll number and password.
Fill out the registration form with accurate personal and academic details.
Read all instructions carefully, tick the declaration box, and submit.
After submission, re-verify your details and confirm registration.

Step 2: Online Choice Filling and Locking

After registration, candidates must fill in preferred institutes and courses online.
Rank choices based on your priority.
Save and review all filled options carefully.
Once finalized, lock your choices — no edits are allowed after locking.

Step 3: JoSAA 2026 Seat Allotment

Seat allotment is based on All India Rank (AIR), category, reservation norms, and seat availability.
Results are released online on the JoSAA portal and shared via SMS / email.
Candidates should download the seat allotment letter for further steps.

Step 4: Fee Payment and Seat Acceptance

Category	Fee (INR)
General	₹ 45,000
SC / ST / PwD / OBC-NCL	₹ 20,000

Pay the seat-acceptance fee online via credit/debit card or net-banking.
After successful payment, download the payment receipt.
You will then receive a provisional admission letter confirming acceptance.

Step 5: Float, Freeze, Slide or Withdraw Options

Candidates can manage their seat preferences as follows:

Float: Retain the allotted seat and also participate in next round.
Freeze: Accept the allotted seat and exit from further rounds.
Slide: Accept the seat but request an upgrade within the same institute.
Withdraw: Cancel admission after paying the fee by reporting to the institute before the final round.

Step 6: Reporting to the Allotted Institute

Visit the assigned college on the specified date and time.
Carry all original documents (admit card, rank card, mark sheets, certificates).
Complete document verification and pay any remaining institute fees.
Confirm final admission by obtaining the official admission receipt.

Tip: Keep multiple photocopies of all documents and the payment receipt for future verification during spot-round or CSAB counselling.

CSAB Counselling Registration 2026 – Application Process

The CSAB Counselling 2026 (Central Seat Allocation Board) provides additional admission opportunities for candidates who have appeared in JEE Main 2026. It ensures that unfilled or special category seats in engineering institutes are allocated efficiently across India.

What are the Eligibility Criteria for CSAB Counselling 2026?

To participate in CSAB Counselling 2026, candidates must meet the following criteria:

Must have qualified JEE Main 2026 and not participated in JoSAA Counselling earlier.
Candidates who were offered a seat in any of the six JoSAA rounds can still participate in CSAB special rounds.
Candidates who did not receive any seat allotment in JoSAA rounds are eligible for CSAB registration.
Those who have paid the partial admission fee during JoSAA can apply for CSAB 2026.
Candidates who chose “Not to Participate in Special Round” during JoSAA reporting are ineligible for CSAB counselling.

Steps for CSAB Counselling 2026 Registration

Visit the official CSAB website.
Log in using your JEE Main roll number and fill in the required personal details.
Complete the application form with correct category, gender, and nationality details.
Upload all necessary documents as per CSAB guidelines.
Pay the application fee online and submit the form.
Save and print the confirmation page for future reference.

Expected JEE Main 2026 Qualifying Cut-off Based on Previous Year Trends

Category	Maximum Percentile	Minimum Percentile
General	100	93.1023262
Gen-PwD	93.0950208	0.0079349
EWS	93.0950208	80.3830119
OBC-NCL	93.0950208	79.4313582
SC	93.0950208	61.1526933
ST	93.0950208	47.9026465

For Detailed cutoff you can refer: JEE Main 2026 Cutoff

Participating Institutes in JEE Main Counselling 2026

The JEE Main Counselling 2026 process includes admissions to top engineering institutes across India — primarily NITs (National Institutes of Technology), IIITs (Indian Institutes of Information Technology), and GFTIs (Government-Funded Technical Institutes).

These institutes participate in the JoSAA and CSAB Counselling 2026 rounds based on the JEE Main ranks.

National Institutes of Technology (NITs)

There are 32 NITs participating in JEE Main Counselling 2026 offering more than 22,000 seats across India.

The list of all NITs with their seat intake is given below:

S.No.	National Institutes of Technology (NITs)	State / UT	Seat Intake
1	Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology	Punjab	1103
2	Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur	Rajasthan	888
3	NIT Puducherry	Puducherry	275
4	NIT Trichy	Tamil Nadu	1038
5	NIT Nagpur (Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology)	Maharashtra	933
6	NIT Sikkim	Sikkim	190
7	Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal	Madhya Pradesh	1203
8	NIT Srinagar	Jammu & Kashmir	899
9	Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad	Uttar Pradesh	1134
10	NIT Uttarakhand	Uttarakhand	200
11	Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat	Gujarat	1400
12	NIT Andhra Pradesh	Andhra Pradesh	480
13	NIT Mizoram	Mizoram	190
14	NIT Warangal	Telangana	1049
15	NIT Rourkela	Odisha	1065
16	NIT Jamshedpur	Jharkhand	751
17	NIT Arunachal Pradesh	Arunachal Pradesh	230
18	NIT Nagaland	Nagaland	201
19	NIT Calicut	Kerala	1278
20	NIT Silchar	Assam	903
21	NIT Agartala	Tripura	1160
22	NIT Durgapur	West Bengal	969
23	NIT Shibpur (IIEST Shibpur)	West Bengal	810
24	NIT Surathkal	Karnataka	961
25	NIT Meghalaya	Meghalaya	165
26	NIT Patna	Bihar	981
27	NIT Raipur	Chhattisgarh	1159
28	NIT Delhi	Delhi	374
29	NIT Goa	Goa	224
30	NIT Hamirpur	Himachal Pradesh	944
31	NIT Kurukshetra	Haryana	1147
32	NIT Manipur	Manipur	226

Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs)

A total of 26 IIITs (Indian Institutes of Information Technology) participate in JEE Main Counselling 2026, offering over 8,000 seats through JoSAA and CSAB.

S.No.	Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs)	State / UT	Seat Intake
1	IIITM Gwalior	Madhya Pradesh	360
2	IIIT Allahabad	Uttar Pradesh	439
3	IIIT Surat	Gujarat	282
4	IIIT Manipur	Manipur	660
5	IIIT Raichur	Karnataka	220
6	IIIT Kancheepuram	Tamil Nadu	593
7	IIIT Dharwad	Karnataka	486
8	IIIT Jabalpur	Madhya Pradesh	550
9	IIIT Kurnool	Andhra Pradesh	331
10	IIIT Sri City, Chittoor	Andhra Pradesh	438
11	IIIT Ranchi	Jharkhand	320
12	IIIT Pune	Maharashtra	445
13	IIIT Guwahati	Assam	254
14	IIIT Nagpur	Maharashtra	648
15	IIIT Vadodara	Gujarat	228
16	IIIT Kalyani	West Bengal	237
17	IIIT Vadodara International Campus	Gujarat	108
18	IIIT Bhagalpur	Bihar	344
19	IIIT Agartala	Tripura	100
20	IIIT Una	Himachal Pradesh	294
21	IIIT Kota	Rajasthan	330
22	IIIT Trichy	Tamil Nadu	225
23	IIIT Sonepat	Haryana	240
24	IIIT Lucknow	Uttar Pradesh	240
25	IIIT Kottayam	Kerala	556
26	IIIT Bhopal	Madhya Pradesh	705

Government-Funded Technical Institutes (GFTIs)

There are 40 Government-Funded Technical Institutes (GFTIs) participating in JEE Main Counselling 2026, providing diverse engineering and architecture programs under CSAB and JoSAA.

S.No	Government-Funded Technical Institutes (GFTIs)	State / UT	Seat Intake
1	Assam University, Silchar	Assam	180
2	Birla Institute of Technology, Deoghar (Off-Campus)	Jharkhand	266
3	Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi	Jharkhand	1284
4	Birla Institute of Technology, Patna (Off-Campus)	Bihar	426
5	Central Institute of Technology, Kokrajhar	Assam	24
6	Central University of Haryana	Haryana	210
7	Central University of Jammu	Jammu & Kashmir	210
8	Central University of Jharkhand	Jharkhand	240
9	Central University of Rajasthan	Rajasthan	90
10	Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University, Bhilai	Chhattisgarh	210
11	Ghani Khan Choudhury Institute of Engineering and Technology	West Bengal	187
12	Gurukula Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar	Uttarakhand	575
13	Indian Institute of Carpet Technology, Bhadohi	Uttar Pradesh	33
14	Indian Institute of Handloom Technology, Varanasi	Uttar Pradesh	33
15	Indian Institute of Handloom Technology, Salem	Tamil Nadu	30
16	Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai (Indian Oil Odisha Campus)	Odisha	66
17	Institute of Engineering & Technology, Dr. H.S. Gour University, Sagar	Madhya Pradesh	360
18	Institute of Infrastructure, Technology, Research and Management, Ahmedabad	Gujarat	156
19	Institute of Technology, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Bilaspur	Chhattisgarh	500
20	International Institute of Information Technology, Bhubaneswar	Odisha	223
21	International Institute of Information Technology, Naya Raipur	Chhattisgarh	95
22	J.K. Institute of Applied Physics & Technology, University of Allahabad	Uttar Pradesh	86
23	Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi	Delhi	126
24	Mizoram University, Aizawl	Mizoram	96
25	National Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Ranchi	Jharkhand	270
26	National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology, Aurangabad	Maharashtra	60
27	National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship & Management, Kundli	Haryana	100
28	National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship & Management, Thanjavur	Tamil Nadu	90
29	North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology, Itanagar	Arunachal Pradesh	16
30	North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong	Meghalaya	80
31	Puducherry Technological University	Puducherry	317
32	Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh	Chandigarh	800
33	Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology	Punjab	498
34	School of Engineering, Tezpur University	Assam	149
35	School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal	Madhya Pradesh	132
36	School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi	Delhi	177
37	School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada	Andhra Pradesh	132
38	School of Studies of Engineering and Technology, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya	Chhattisgarh	711
39	Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra	Jammu & Kashmir	270
40	University of Hyderabad	Telangana	110

Key Highlights

Total Institutes: 98 (32 NITs + 26 IIITs + 40 GFTIs)
Total Seat Intake: Over 40,000+ seats available through JEE Main 2026 Counselling
Counselling Conducted By: JoSAA and CSAB
Admission Basis: JEE Main 2026 All India Rank (AIR), category, and preferences filled during counselling

Conclusion

The JEE Main Counselling 2026 is your pathway to India’s top engineering institutes. Stay updated with official JoSAA and CSAB announcements, register on time, and carefully lock your choices to increase your chances of securing your dream seat.

For expert guidance, live updates, and preparation support, visit Vedantu’s JEE Main Page your trusted source for accurate counselling information and JEE resources.

Important Study Materials Links for JEE Exams

S.No	Essential Study Material Links for JEE
1	JEE Main Notes
2	JEE Advanced Notes
3	JEE Main Important Question
4	JEE Advanced Important Question
5	JEE Main Question Paper
6	JEE Advanced Question Paper
7	JEE Main Sample Paper
8	JEE Advanced Sample Paper
9	JEE Main Syllabus
10	JEE Advanced Syllabus
11	JEE Main Mock Test Series
12	JEE Advanced Mock Test Series
13	JEE Preparation Tips
14	JEE Main Formulas
15	JEE Advanced Formulas
16	JEE Main Difference Between
17	JEE Advanced Difference Between
18	JEE Main Topic
19	JEE Main Question and Answers
20	JEE Advanced Question and Answers

FAQs on JEE Main Counselling 2026: Dates, Eligibility, and Seat Matrix Explained

1. When will JEE Main Counselling 2026 start?

The JEE Main Counselling 2026 is expected to start in the first week of June 2026, soon after the JEE Main results are declared. In 2025, the JoSAA Counselling began on June 3, 2025, with choice-filling open until June 12, 2025. Therefore, a similar schedule is likely to be followed for 2026. The Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) will conduct the counselling for IITs, NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs across India.

2. Who is eligible for JEE Main Counselling 2026?

Candidates who qualify in JEE Main 2026 and/or JEE Advanced 2026 will be eligible to participate in JoSAA Counselling. They must also:

Score at least 75% marks (65% for SC/ST) in Class 12, or
Rank in the top 20 percentile of their respective school boards.

(Eligibility rules are expected to remain similar to 2025.)

3. What is the JEE Main Counselling 2026 process?

The JEE Main Counselling process for 2026 will likely include these steps (same as 2025):

Online registration on the official JoSAA portal.
Choice filling and locking of preferred colleges and courses.
Seat allotment based on All India Rank, category, and availability.
Seat-acceptance fee payment and document verification online.
Final reporting to the allotted institute for admission confirmation.

4. What are the counselling fees for JEE Main 2026?

The seat-acceptance fee is expected to remain unchanged from 2025:

General / OBC-NCL: ₹ 45,000
SC / ST / PwD: ₹ 20,000

Payment will be made online during the seat-acceptance step via credit/debit card or net banking.

5. What is the last date for JEE Main Counselling 2026 registration?

While official dates are yet to be announced, the last date for registration and choice-filling is expected around mid-June 2026 (similar to June 12, 2025 from the previous cycle). Candidates should complete registration, choice filling, and locking before the deadline to be considered for seat allotment.

6. What is the difference between JoSAA and CSAB Counselling?

JoSAA Counselling: Conducts six rounds for IITs, NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs.
CSAB Counselling: Conducts special rounds only for NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs to fill vacant seats after JoSAA ends.

Eligibility, documents, and fee payment steps remain largely the same in both processes.

7. How much does JEE Main Counselling cost?

The cost of JEE Main Counselling is primarily the seat-acceptance fee (₹ 45,000 for General/OBC and ₹ 20,000 for SC/ST/PwD). The amount is adjusted against the institute admission fee once the seat is confirmed.

8. When will CSAB Counselling 2026 begin?

The CSAB Counselling 2026 (special rounds) is expected to begin in August 2026, following the completion of all six JoSAA rounds. In 2025, CSAB started its registration in early August, and a similar timeline is anticipated.