The HRD Ministry has informed the Parliament that there are a total of 277 fake engineering colleges in the country providing technical education, with national capital Delhi accounting for the highest number of such institutions at 66. While Telangana is at spot number 2 with 35 fake engineering colleges, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have 22 and 27 fake engineering colleges, respectively.
In Kerala there are 2 engineering colleges that are accounted to be fake. Though these colleges do not have the authority to grant degrees, the menace of unapproved colleges continues unchecked given the huge demand for engineering courses in the country that makes it a lucrative business.
These institutions are running without the approval of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The Institutions conducting unapproved courses are directed from time to time through Public Notices and individual letters under intimation to the concerned state government to seek AICTE approval for conducting of technical education programmes or to close them down. The University Grants Commission (UGC) which regularly maintains the list of fake Universities / Institutions on its website commission already displays a list of 24 fake universities on its official website.
Here is the HRD Ministry list of the number of fake institutes across states
| State/ UT | Number of fake institutes |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 0 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 7 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 0 |
| Assam | 0 |
| Bihar | 17 |
| Chandigarh | 7 |
| Chhattisgarh | 0 |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 0 |
| Daman and Diu | 0 |
| Delhi | 66 |
| Goa | 2 |
| Gujarat | 8 |
| Haryana | 18 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 1 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 0 |
| Jharkhand | 4 |
| Karnataka | 23 |
| Kerala | 2 |
| Lakshadweep | 0 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 0 |
| Maharashtra | 16 |
| Manipur | 0 |
| Meghalaya | 0 |
| Mizoram | 0 |
| Nagaland | 0 |
| Odisha | 1 |
| Puducherry | 0 |
| Punjab | 5 |
| Rajasthan | 3 |
| Sikkim | 0 |
| Tamil Nadu | 11 |
| Telangana | 35 |
| Tripura | 0 |
| Uttarakhand | 3 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 22 |
| West Bengal | 27 |
| Total | 277 |
Meanwhile, industry experts said that terming these institutions as “fake” may not be appropriate. There may be engineering colleges that sought approval until last year and failed to do so this year. If they have not sought approval then they are not even eligible to participate in the counselling process to admit students. It is surprising how such institutions are functioning.
It maybe recalled that the MHRD had, in 2017, written to state governments to investigate the matter and register police complaints against “fake” educational institutions.
Steps detailed by UGC to identify fake Institutions/Universities in the last one year
-Published public notices on the list of fake Universities/Institutions in Hindi and English Newspapers.
-Sent letters to State Chief Secretaries, Education Secretaries and Principal Secretaries to take action against fake Universities/Institutes of located in their jurisdiction and identify such Universities / Institutes which are functioning in their State.
-Show Causes Notices have been issued to the unauthorized institutes awarding invalid degrees.
-Public Notices have been issued on illegal status of Bio-Chemic Education Grant Commission, Nadia, West Bengal and IIPM, New Delhi.
