According to officials of the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination Board, this year, the number of applicants appearing for the Joint Entrance Examination has increased to 1,21,000 — the highest ever recorded by the JEEB.

Board chairman Professor Siddhartha Datta said the reason so many students were keen to study in colleges of West Bengal was the transparency in the admission process.

He said this year, of the 1,21,000 applicants, 46,000 — more than 30 per cent — were from Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Assam and some parts of Uttar Pradesh.

“Earlier, students from these states went to South India for an engineering degree. Now they know there are more opportunities in West Bengal,” said Datta.

“In 2008, the number of applicants for engineering and medical seats was only 78,000,” added Datta.

Last year, there were nearly 24,000 seats in 60 engineering colleges and 1,105 seats in the seven medical colleges in the state.

Nearly 2,000 seats in engineering colleges, mostly in the IT sector, remained vacant despite three rounds of counselling.

“This year after the economic recession, companies are recruiting engineering graduates in the IT sector. That is why so many students have applied for the JEE examination,” said Datta.

“Nearly 1,500-2,000 new seats would be added to engineering colleges this year,” added Datta.