According to the most recent Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced report, the number of foreign students enrolled in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) increased significantly in 2022.
The IITs will provide seats to 66 foreign nationals in total in 2022. In this area, the number had not surpassed 10 in the past 5 years. According to experts, this is due to a shift in the definition of foreign nationals applying to professional courses in India.
According to a government mandate effective in March 2021, persons of Indian origin (PIO) and overseas citizens of India (OCI), who were formerly treated equally with Indians for seats in government institutions, are now categorised as foreign nationals. Such students are given extra seats at a greater cost.
All OCI/PIO candidates are classified as foreign nationals for JEE (Advanced) and Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JOSAA) for seat allocation at IITs, according to the Gazette Published by the Government of India on 4 March 2021. Foreign nationals were given the opportunity to take up to 10% of the available seats in each programme as supernumerary seats. This year, 66 extra seats were made available in IITs for overseas applicants.