Bhubaneswar, July 14: Nearly 9,700 students have registered for the July 19 Special Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE)-2015 and the large number of examinees has brought relief to college authorities, who were apprehensive about many seats remaining vacant.

The count is significant, as the college authorities had extended the last date of application from June 22 to July 10.

OJEE chairman Tusharkant Nath said admit cards had been dispatched to the students. Result of the entrance exam will be announced on July 27 and the students can check their rank at www.ojee.nic.in.

The test will have 90 marks of multiple questions with 30 marks each in physics, chemistry and mathematics. The two-hour examination will begin at 9am. Students have been asked to report at the centres 30 minutes prior to the test.

Private engineering colleges had been expecting close to 10,000 students to register for the Special OJEE.

The colleges, under the banner Odisha Private Engineering Colleges' Association (Opeca) had approached Orrisa High Court demanding the special exam for candidates who did not take the JEE (Main) but seeks admission in engineering colleges.

They claimed that many students from interior parts of the state were not aware about the JEE (Main) and its procedures.

The association also alleged that the state government did nothing to publicise the new format to the students, which has subsequently led to the fall in engineering admissions.

The court on March 24 said that a special OJEE shall be conducted for seats that would remain vacant after the JEE (Main) counselling.

While the submission of online application has been completed, the counselling and admission are scheduled to start on July 8.<>At present, there are 94 degree engineering colleges in the state with an intake capacity of 48,700. While seven of them are government institutes, the rest are self-financed.

Admission dates extended

The higher education department today extended the admission date for students whose name feature in the first merit list from July 20 to July 23. Earlier, the admissions were to be done from July 16 to July 20.

"This has been done for the convenience of students, who may not be able to reach Bhubaneswar from different parts of the state because of the rath yatra that falls on July 18," said Mihir Dash, officer in-charge of admissions. There will be no admissions on July 18. All other processes will remain unchanged, he said.