<p>Bengaluru: There has been a 78% increase in enrollment in computer science and allied streams in Karnataka over a period of five academic years from 2020-21, with 62% of all engineering admissions going to these most sought-after courses in 2024-25. The trend has been termed a “crisis” by an expert committee because industry demand for these graduates is “saturating”.</p>.<p>While enrollment in computer science, IT, AI/ML, data science and IoT courses rose by 78% between 2020-21 and 2024-25, enrollment in mechanical, civil and electronics engineering dropped by 39%, leading to an “acute shortage” of these graduates.</p>.<p>The drop was 38% for aerospace, metallurgy and chemical engineering, triggering a “critical shortage” of graduates. The drop was 27% for electronics & communications, whose demand is “growing”.</p>.Karnataka launches Centre of Excellence for Space Technology in Bengaluru.<p>This was revealed by the expert committee headed by former director of IIIT-B, S Sadagopan, constituted by the higher education department. In its report submitted to the government recently, the committee flagged this trend. Higher Education Minister Dr MC Sudhakar has termed the report as an “eye-opener”. </p>.<p>As per the committee, the industry demand for graduates in CS and related courses is saturating while recruiters are not able to meet the demand in core branches like mechanical, civil, electrical and electronics engineering due to an acute shortage of graduates in these streams.</p>.<p>Branches such as metallurgy, aerospace and chemical engineering are undergoing critical shortage of graduates. And the demand for ECE graduates is growing.</p>.<p>“Computer science alone accounts for 68% of total intake yet operates at near-full allotment. Civil engineering carries the system’s largest vacancy pool (47.9%). Architecture programmes — newly introduced in 2024 — show a 63.9% vacancy rate. Unchecked, this imbalance wastes public regulatory capacity, misleads students and erodes institutional accreditation quality in non-CS disciplines,” the committee noted.</p>.<p>The committee stated that Karnataka’s engineering education ecosystem of approximately 190 institutions, which produces 1,30,000–1,35,000 graduates annually, faces a structural crisis that, if not corrected, will erode the state’s industrial competitiveness within this decade.</p>.<p>“Audited enrollment data reveals a system tilting dangerously: Computer science and its variants now consume over 62% of all engineering enrollment, while core disciplines—mechanical, civil, electrical, aerospace, metallurgical, chemical — have collectively shrunk from 29% to 16% of intake in five years,” the committee stated.</p>.<p>It further said: “Aerospace engineering, in a state that hosts HAL, Isro, NAL, Boeing and Airbus, produces barely 900 graduates per year. This is not a natural market correction. It is a systemic failure driven by stale curricula, decayed infrastructure in lower-tier colleges, an acute faculty gap and a 40–80% entry-level salary differential between core branches and IT. The consequences are already visible: HAL struggles to recruit structural engineers, the semiconductor industry faces a critical talent crunch and construction majors report difficulty staffing infrastructure projects — all within a state that hosts India’s densest concentration of core engineering employers.”</p>.<p>As reported by the committee, unregulated IT-seat expansion is collapsing non-metro institutions and denying rural access. “The resulting talent mismatch undermines Karnataka’s industrial competitiveness. Oversupply of narrowly trained IT graduates and critical undersupply of core engineering talent creates a widening industry–talent mismatch,” it reads. </p>.<p>Higher Education Minister Dr M C Sudhakar said the government would take measures to implement the committee’s recommendations.</p>.<p>“I would like to thank the committee for this extensive report which is an eye-opener as far as engineering education is concerned. The committee has also highlighted the unemployability among engineering graduates and as per the report, only 17% of engineering graduates in Karnataka are getting employed, which is a staggering employability crisis. We will take necessary measures to implement the recommendations of the committee,” he said.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: There has been a 78% increase in enrollment in computer science and allied streams in Karnataka over a period of five academic years from 2020-21, with 62% of all engineering admissions going to these most sought-after courses in 2024-25. The trend has been termed a “crisis” by an expert committee because industry demand for these graduates is “saturating”.</p>.<p>While enrollment in computer science, IT, AI/ML, data science and IoT courses rose by 78% between 2020-21 and 2024-25, enrollment in mechanical, civil and electronics engineering dropped by 39%, leading to an “acute shortage” of these graduates.</p>.<p>The drop was 38% for aerospace, metallurgy and chemical engineering, triggering a “critical shortage” of graduates. The drop was 27% for electronics & communications, whose demand is “growing”.</p>.Karnataka launches Centre of Excellence for Space Technology in Bengaluru.<p>This was revealed by the expert committee headed by former director of IIIT-B, S Sadagopan, constituted by the higher education department. In its report submitted to the government recently, the committee flagged this trend. Higher Education Minister Dr MC Sudhakar has termed the report as an “eye-opener”. </p>.<p>As per the committee, the industry demand for graduates in CS and related courses is saturating while recruiters are not able to meet the demand in core branches like mechanical, civil, electrical and electronics engineering due to an acute shortage of graduates in these streams.</p>.<p>Branches such as metallurgy, aerospace and chemical engineering are undergoing critical shortage of graduates. And the demand for ECE graduates is growing.</p>.<p>“Computer science alone accounts for 68% of total intake yet operates at near-full allotment. Civil engineering carries the system’s largest vacancy pool (47.9%). Architecture programmes — newly introduced in 2024 — show a 63.9% vacancy rate. Unchecked, this imbalance wastes public regulatory capacity, misleads students and erodes institutional accreditation quality in non-CS disciplines,” the committee noted.</p>.<p>The committee stated that Karnataka’s engineering education ecosystem of approximately 190 institutions, which produces 1,30,000–1,35,000 graduates annually, faces a structural crisis that, if not corrected, will erode the state’s industrial competitiveness within this decade.</p>.<p>“Audited enrollment data reveals a system tilting dangerously: Computer science and its variants now consume over 62% of all engineering enrollment, while core disciplines—mechanical, civil, electrical, aerospace, metallurgical, chemical — have collectively shrunk from 29% to 16% of intake in five years,” the committee stated.</p>.<p>It further said: “Aerospace engineering, in a state that hosts HAL, Isro, NAL, Boeing and Airbus, produces barely 900 graduates per year. This is not a natural market correction. It is a systemic failure driven by stale curricula, decayed infrastructure in lower-tier colleges, an acute faculty gap and a 40–80% entry-level salary differential between core branches and IT. The consequences are already visible: HAL struggles to recruit structural engineers, the semiconductor industry faces a critical talent crunch and construction majors report difficulty staffing infrastructure projects — all within a state that hosts India’s densest concentration of core engineering employers.”</p>.<p>As reported by the committee, unregulated IT-seat expansion is collapsing non-metro institutions and denying rural access. “The resulting talent mismatch undermines Karnataka’s industrial competitiveness. Oversupply of narrowly trained IT graduates and critical undersupply of core engineering talent creates a widening industry–talent mismatch,” it reads. </p>.<p>Higher Education Minister Dr M C Sudhakar said the government would take measures to implement the committee’s recommendations.</p>.<p>“I would like to thank the committee for this extensive report which is an eye-opener as far as engineering education is concerned. The committee has also highlighted the unemployability among engineering graduates and as per the report, only 17% of engineering graduates in Karnataka are getting employed, which is a staggering employability crisis. We will take necessary measures to implement the recommendations of the committee,” he said.</p>
