JoSAA counselling is done after the JEE Main or JEE Advanced Examination, so the basic criteria for JoSAA counselling is to appear in JEE Main or JEE Advanced examinations. The rank allotted in JEE Main will open the gateway to the renowned government institutes like NITs, IIITs, GFTIs. JEE advanced is held for the candidates willing to take admission in IITs. A candidate must secure good marks for their selection in these institutes as the seat would be allotted to only those who are rank holders. There are certain factors which are responsible for getting admission.
- The category of the candidate i.e. whether the candidate belongs to GEN/OBC/SC/ST, etc.
- The position of the candidate after the examination
- The preferential order chosen by the candidate as per his will.
- The seat reservation for the various institutes for different programs with different quotas.
JEE Advanced counselling Eligibility Criteria
- A candidate should qualify JEE Advanced 2024 for many academic programs offered at IITs.
Or
- Candidates opting for preparatory courses at IITs must have optimum marks in their class 12th examination
JEE Main counselling Eligibility Criteria
Candidates opting for B. Tech/B.E. must have the following minimum eligibility criteria before going on with JoSAA counselling process
- A candidate must be a rank holder in JEE Main 2024 paper -1 for B. Tech/B.E. courses at NITs, IIITs or GFTIs.
- A candidate must have passed class 12th examination with Maths and Physics as compulsory subjects along with Chemistry/Biotechnology/Biology/other technical vocational courses.
Eligibility for Architectural Program
- A Candidate must be a rank holder in the JEE main paper 2 for Bachelor in Architecture course with subjects like Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. A candidate can then apply to the institutes like NITs, IIEST, IIITs, and GFTIs
- A candidate must be rank holder in JEE Main paper 2 for Bachelor in Planning course with Mathematics as compulsory subject for the programs offered at NITs, IIEST, IIITs, and GFTIs
Categories of
| Category Tag | Full Forms |
| EWS | Economically Weaker Section |
| GEN | General (with regards to the category of the candidate |
| OBC – NCL | Other Backward classes – Non Creamy Layer |
| OCI/PIO | Overseas Citizen of India Certificate Holder or Person ofIndian Origin Card Holder |
| PwD | Person with Disability |
| SC | Scheduled Caste |
| ST | Scheduled Tribe |
Different Program – sections were divided into different academic programs having number of seats. The program sections are OPEN, GEN-EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, OPEN-PwD, GEN-EWS-PwD, OBC-NCL-PwD, SC-PwD, and ST-PwD.
Program sections are mentioned below
Sections are as shown in the table below:
| Program-Section | Category tag(s) of eligible candidates |
| OPEN | GEN, GEN-EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, GEN-PwD, |
| GEN-EWS- | PwD, OBC-NCL-PwD, SC-PwD, ST-PwD GEN-EWS GEN-EWS, GEN-EWS-PwD |
| OBC-NCL | OBC-NCL, OBC-NCL-PwD |
| SC | SC, SC-PwD |
| ST | ST, ST-PwD |
| OPEN-PwD | GEN-PwD, GEN-EWS-PwD, OBC-NCL-PwD, SC-PwD, ST-PwD |
| GEN-EWS-PwD | GEN-EWS-PwD |
| GEN-EWS-PwD | OBC-NCL-PwD |
| SC-PwD | SC-PwD |
| ST-PwD | ST-PwD |
Home Quota rules for Admission in NITs
As per the JEE Main reservation criteria there is a reservation of 50% seats reserved under home state quota and 50% is for the candidates coming from other states. “Home State quota” is ONLY for candidates whose Home State, as
determined by the State Code of Eligibility, is same as the state in which
the institute is located.
“Other States Quota” includes all the States and Union Territories EXCEPT
the Home State [or Home Union Territory].
The home state quota means that wherein the NIT is located the state would be treated as home state and the candidates belonging to that particular state are eligible for this quota. Other state quota here refers to the state outside the NIT state. NITs are not there in all the Indian states and Union Territories therefore a list of NITs with states is mentioned below in the tabular format as per the convenience of the readers.
| S. No. | Name Of The College |
| National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli | |
| National Institute of Technology Warangal | |
| National Institute of Technology Calicut | |
| National Institute of Technology Karnataka Surathkal | |
| National Institute of Technology Rourkela | |
| National Institute of Technology Durgapur | |
| National Institute of Technology Hamirpur | |
| National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra | |
| National Institute of Technology Raipur | |
| National Institute of Technology Silchar | |
| National Institute of Foundry and Forge Technology, Ranchi | |
| National Institute of Technology Agartala | |
| National Institute of Technology Delhi | |
| National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur | |
| National Institute of Technology Goa | |
| National Institute of Technology Manipur | |
| National Institute of Technology Meghalaya | |
| National Institute of Technology Patna | |
| National Institute of Technology Puducherry Karaikal | |
| National Institute of Technology Sikkim | |
| National Institute of Technology Srinagar | |
| Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad | |
| Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology Jalandhar | |
| Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology Surat |
Eligibility for Different seat quotas at NITs, IIEST and other GFTIs
| Name of Institute | Eligibility Criteria |
| All NITs (except NIT Goa and NITSrinagar), IIEST Shibpur, PEC Chandigarh | Home State Quota: Candidates whose Home State is same as theState in which the Institute is located Other State Quota: Other States candidates i.e., candidates whose Home State is different from the State in which the Institute is located |
| Ghani Khan Choudhary Institute ofEngineering and Technology, Malda, West Bengal | Home State Quota: Candidates whose Home State is Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura. Other States Quota: Other State candidates except fromArunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland,Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura and West Bengal |
| AssamUniversity,Silchar, Birla Institute of Technology,Mesra, ICT-IOC Bhubaneswar Campus and Pondicherry Engineering College,Puducherry | Candidates whose Home State is Assamfor Assam University Candidates whose Home State is Jharkhandfor Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra Candidates whose home state is Odisha for ICT-IOC Bhubaneswar Campus Candidates whose Home State is Puducherry for Pondicherry Engineering College All candidates (including the Home State candidates) |
| NIT Goa | 40% for Candidates whose Home State is Goa and vacant seats, if any, from the 10% quota of UTs of Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveliand Lakshadweep10% for Candidates whose Home State is UTs of Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep Other States candidates i.e., candidates whose Home State is different from Goa and UTs of Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveliand Lakshadweep. |
| NIT Srinagar | A special quota of 5% seats in UGProgramme of NIT Srinagar (J&K) shall be reserved for eligible students of union territory of Ladakh within the overall home state (50%) quota seats of Jammu & Kashmir. Any unfilled seats out of the 5% seats earmarked for students of Ladakh will be filled by the Home State students of Jammu & Kashmir. Other States candidates i.e., candidates whose Home State is different from UT of Jammu & Kashmir and UT of Ladakh |
The seat matrix data must be provided by the participating institutes. The Participating institutes takes into consideration everything about the reservation and other policies applicable to them. JoSAA is not at all responsible for the Seat matrix data.
JoSAA seat matrix
| Category | IITs | NITS | IIITs | GFTIS | |
| OPEN | 6260 | 9147 | 2442 | 2906 | |
| OPEN-PwD | 336 | 467 | 116 | 155 | |
| GEN-EWS | 1526 | 2359 | 548 | 564 | |
| GEN-EWS-PwD | 75 | 137 | 26 | 23 | |
| SC | 2304 | 3341 | 876 | 809 | |
| SC-PwD | 125 | 189 | 43 | 44 | |
| ST | 1161 | 2043 | 438 | 485 | |
| ST-PwD | 61 | 104 | 16 | 20 | |
| OBC-NCL | 4165 | 5894 | 1561 | 1028 | |
| OBC-NCL-PwD | 219 | 316 | 80 | 44 | |
| Program-Total | Seat Capacity | 14698 | 23399 | 5841 | 6078 |
| Female Supernumerary | 1534 | 598 | 305 | 0 | |
| Total (including Female Supernumerary) | 16232 | 23997 | 6146 | 6078 |
JoSAA seat matrix 2020
| Category | Total Seats | IITs | NITs | IIITs | GFTIs |
| Open | 20311 | 6206 | 9150 | 2273 | 2682 |
| Open-PWD | 1033 | 328 | 465 | 103 | 137 |
| General-EWS | 4539 | 1502 | 2037 | 483 | 517 |
| General-EWS-PWD | 242 | 71 | 123 | 25 | 23 |
| SC | 7152 | 2291 | 3311 | 793 | 757 |
| SC-PWD | 384 | 116 | 180 | 47 | 41 |
| ST | 3980 | 1152 | 1991 | 400 | 437 |
| ST-PWD | 218 | 58 | 123 | 17 | 20 |
| OBC | 12345 | 4126 | 5824 | 1431 | 964 |
| OBC-PWD | 618 | 203 | 302 | 71 | 42 |
| Total Seats | 50822 | 16053 | 23506 | 5643 | 5620 |