CSAB 2026 NEUT Round – Complete Guide for NE & UT Candidates

The CSAB NEUT Round (North East and Union Territory Round) is a special counselling round conducted by the Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) specifically for candidates who are domiciled in the eight North-Eastern states of India or in the Union Territories. This round runs after CSAB Special Round 2 and aims to ensure that students from geographically disadvantaged and remote regions of India have a fair opportunity to secure seats in centrally funded technical institutions.

The policy rationale is straightforward: many students from NE states and UTs face geographical, economic, and infrastructural disadvantages that historically resulted in underrepresentation at NITs and IIITs. The NEUT round allocates specific seats — and sometimes entire additional seat pools — exclusively for these candidates, with relaxed effective cutoffs compared to the general CSAB rounds.

In practical terms, the NEUT round means that if you are from Assam, Manipur, or Lakshadweep (for example) and you did not receive a satisfactory seat in JoSAA or CSAB SR1/SR2, you have a third dedicated opportunity specifically for you.

Eligible North-Eastern States

Candidates with domicile from any of the following eight states qualify for the NEUT round:

Eligible Union Territories

Candidates with domicile from the following Union Territories are also eligible:

Academic and Rank Requirements

• Must hold a valid JEE Main 2026 rank (Paper 1 for B.Tech/BE programmes)
• Must meet Class 12 eligibility: 75% aggregate in any stream (65% for SC/ST candidates)
• Must not have physically reported to and joined a JoSAA 2026 allotted institute
• Must not have physically reported to a CSAB SR1 or SR2 allotted institute (check CSAB notification)
• Must possess a valid domicile certificate from an eligible NE state or UT

The NEUT round follows a similar process to the regular CSAB special rounds but has specific seats reserved for NE/UT candidates:

Seat Pool in NEUT

The CSAB NEUT round draws on seats that remained vacant after SR1 and SR2, as well as seats that were specifically created under the NE/UT quota at various NITs and IIITs. Some institutes — particularly NITs in NE states like NIT Silchar, NIT Agartala, NIT Arunachal Pradesh, and NIT Mizoram — have a significantly larger NEUT seat pool.

Importantly, the NEUT round may access seat pools not available in SR1 or SR2, meaning you could potentially get seats at institutes that appeared full in earlier rounds.

NEUT Registration and Choice Filling

If you are eligible, you register on csab.nic.in during the NEUT window and submit a fresh choice list (or update your existing CSAB choice list, depending on the year's process). The allotment algorithm then processes your choices against the available NEUT seat pool, prioritising NE/UT candidates.

2026 Timeline

*Indicative dates based on past CSAB schedules. Official dates at csab.nic.in.

In addition to the standard CSAB documents, NEUT candidates must provide domicile proof:

Note: The domicile certificate is the most critical document for NEUT eligibility. Ensure it is issued by a competent authority and is not expired. Some states have an online domicile certificate portal — apply well in advance.