NEET Delay Won’t Affect Engineering Admissions: Maharashtra CET Cell

Mumbai: Seeking to quell growing anxiety among students and parents, the Maharashtra State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell on Thursday clarified that engineering admissions across the state will proceed as scheduled, despite concerns triggered by recent reports linking delays to the NEET examination cycle.

It was earlier reported that the timeline for engineering and pharmaceutical admissions could be disrupted due to the NEET 2026 examination and its pending re-test results. The CET Cell, however, has now drawn a clear distinction, noting that NEET scores are relevant to only a narrow subset of courses.

These include nine specialised programmes, agriculture engineering, biotechnology, food engineering, leather technology, packaging technology, pharmaceutical engineering, printing engineering, fashion technology and textile chemistry, and even within these, only 15% of seats under the All India quota are filled using NEET scores. Importantly, these courses are offered in just 17 government-approved institutions across Maharashtra.

Admissions to the vast majority of engineering courses, officials pointed out, are governed by the schedule laid down by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and will continue unaffected.

In the event that the NEET re-examination results are delayed, the CET Cell has indicated that the limited number of seats dependent on NEET scores will be temporarily set aside. The admission process for all other seats will move forward as planned, ensuring that timelines are not derailed.

The clarification comes at a critical juncture, as students await clarity on multiple entrance examinations and their cascading impact on admissions.