CHENNAI: With Thursday being the last date for enrollment, the number of candidates seeking engineering seats in Tamil Nadu has crossed 1.70 lakh, and more applicants are expected to register.

The Directorate of Technical Education (DOTE), a wing of the Higher Education Department, is conducting Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) - 2024. The candidates’ enrollment started on May 6, and more than 1.7 lakh applicants have completed all the registration formalities, including uploading their certificates.

The application process for TNEA was made entirely online including registration, payments, choice filling, allotment and confirmation. The last date for registration will be Thursday, but candidates can upload their certificates by June 12.

“Though a little over 2.4 lakh candidates have enrolled, only around 1.9 applicants have paid the registration fees,” a senior DOTE official said, “Of the 1.9 lakh, about 1.7 lakh candidates have completed all the registration formalities, including uploading their certificates.”

Random numbers will be assigned to the applicants who completed their registration successfully from June 12, and online certificate verification will be conducted from June 13 to June 30. He added that students who do not have access to a computer and internet connection could visit the candidates’ facilitation centres to verify their certificates physically.

The much-awaited merit list will be released on July 10. “Once the rank list is announced, the students’ grievances redressal cell will operate from July 11 to July 20, where applicants can clear all their doubts and clarifications. However, the counselling dates would not be announced well in advance since the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has not released the new academic session for all engineering colleges,” the DOTE official claimed.