DPS boys exult at their IIT-JEE success in Dhanbad on Monday. (Gautam Dey)

Dhanbad/Bokaro, May 25: Every year, schools in the coalbelt — Dhanbad and Bokaro — compete to find the maximum number of students from each to have secured a seat in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). This morning it was no different.

Bokaro created a new record and at least 181 students from the district have made it to the IITs. Last year, 84 students from Bokaro had cleared the IIT-JEE.

In Dhanbad, the overall figure stood at about 43, taking the total from the two districts to 224. More numbers are expected to be added, as several students are currently out of station.

Delhi Public school (DPS) Bokaro had 134 students who have cleared the entrance examination.

Chinmaya Vidyalaya in Bokaro got 47 rankers from the district so far, and the school claims about 10 more will be added to the list. Nilanshu Agarwal, ranked 94, topped here followed by CBSE XII topper Shivshankar Singh.

In Dhanbad, Delhi Public School (DPS) led the charts with 19 of its students getting a seat in the IITs. DAV Public School, Koylanagar, followed with 16 while seven students from Doon Public School, Dhanbad, made it to the merit list.

The toppers tally in the district was also led by a student of DPS — Pranay Ranjan. He secured an all India rank of 295 in the IIT-JEE, also coming third in Class XII with 95.2 per cent.

Two students from Doon Public School Navin Goyal and Jaysawal followed with ranks 683 and 795, respectively.

Among the physically challenged, Sony Kumar (colour-blind), a student of Raj Inter-school, secured an All-India rank of 56 in the special students category. “I worked about 14 hours a day for the last two years,” said Sonu, adding that concentration is more important than the number of hours. Another such student, Awinash Kumar of DAV Public School, also made it to the merit list.

Nine students of Pentacostal School, Bokaro, made it too, with Vinit Agarwal (rank 402) leading the pack followed by Abhishek Datta, Arijit Sen, Ashish Kumar, Avinash, Bittu Singh and Saddam Hussain.

According to the general manager of Bokaro steel plant Shitanshu Prasad eight students from Bokaro Steel Plant-run Bokaro Ispat Vidyalaya schools have also made the cut.

Two students from Bermo (Bokaro) Akhilesh Kumar and Rohit Kumar have also cracked the IIT examination while unconfirmed sources informed that three students of St Xavier’s School, Bokaro, and three from Ayappa School have also got calls.