Official Rules & Quotas
JEE Main & JoSAA 2026 Seat Reservation & Category Guide
Understanding seat categories, reservation percentages, quota rules, and certificate validity requirements is vital for establishing accurate rank cutoffs during JoSAA 2026 seat allotment.
OPEN (General Merit)
Open to all candidates strictly based on All India CRL Rank, regardless of domicile or community.
No certificate required. Highest competition category. Cutoffs for top IIT/NIT Computer Science branches close at very high ranks.
OBC-NCL (Non-Creamy Layer)
Candidates belonging to Central List OBC castes with annual family income below ₹8 Lakh.
Certificate MUST be issued on or after April 1, 2026 by an authorized government authority in the prescribed central format.
GEN-EWS (Economically Weaker)
General category candidates fulfilling EWS income (gross annual income < ₹8 Lakh) & asset criteria.
Certificate MUST be issued on or after April 1, 2026 for the financial year 2026–2027.
Scheduled Castes (SC)
Candidates belonging to recognized Scheduled Castes list.
Requires a valid SC caste certificate. SC closing ranks are significantly relaxed across all engineering streams.
Scheduled Tribes (ST)
Candidates belonging to recognized Scheduled Tribes list.
Requires a valid ST tribe certificate. ST category offers substantial cutoff relaxations in premier institutes.
Persons with Disabilities (PwD)
Candidates with benchmark disability of 40% or more certified by a designated medical board.
Applies horizontally across all seat categories (OPEN-PwD, OBC-NCL-PwD, EWS-PwD, SC-PwD, ST-PwD).
Female Supernumerary Quota (Minimum 20% Representation)
Dedicated seat allocation in IITs, NITs, and select IIITs for female engineering aspirants.
State Quotas: AI vs HS vs OS
How JoSAA determines candidate eligibility based on state of examination.
Open to candidates from any state or union territory across India. All 23 IITs and 26 IIITs allocate 100% of their seats under All India quota. NITs also use AI quota for select specialized programs.
Reserved specifically for candidates whose Class 12 (or equivalent) examination passing school/college is located within the state where the NIT or GFTI is situated. Comprises ~50% of total seats in NITs.
Applies to candidates whose Class 12 passing location is outside the home state of the respective NIT. Comprises the remaining ~50% of NIT seat intake.
Critical Notice: JoSAA 2026 Category Certificate Validity Dates
For candidates applying under OBC-NCL or GEN-EWS categories, category certificates MUST be issued ON OR AFTER APRIL 1, 2026 in the official JoSAA central format. Certificates issued prior to April 1, 2026 are invalid for JoSAA 2026 counselling. Failure to upload a valid certificate will result in automatic conversion to the General (OPEN) category or cancellation of seat allotment.
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