DASA Scheme for Foreign & NRI Students

What DASA is

DASA — Direct Admission of Students Abroad — is a Government of India scheme that provides a route for eligible foreign nationals, Persons of Indian Origin (PIO), Overseas Citizens of India (OCI), Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and children of Indian workers abroad to gain admission to undergraduate engineering and other programmes at several Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs).

DASA is a centralised channel run separately from the domestic JoSAA/CSAB counselling that Indian-citizen students use. It is administered on behalf of the Ministry of Education through a designated coordinating institute, and applications are made through the official DASA portal.

Which institutes participate

DASA covers a set of CFTIs that typically includes National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), Schools of Planning and Architecture (SPAs) and other centrally funded institutes. The exact list of participating institutes and the programmes offered through DASA are published each year on the official portal.

• NITs (National Institutes of Technology)
• IIITs (Indian Institutes of Information Technology)
• SPAs (Schools of Planning and Architecture)
• Other CFTIs as listed on the official DASA portal each year

Who is eligible and how selection works

Eligibility under DASA is defined by your category (foreign national, PIO/OCI, NRI, or child of an Indian worker abroad), your qualifying examination, and the qualifying score or test that DASA uses for ranking in a given year. DASA has, in different years, used standardized test scores as the basis for the merit list.

Because the precise eligibility criteria, the qualifying test or score used, subject and percentage requirements, and any document conditions are set fresh each admission cycle, do not rely on figures from earlier years. Verify the current eligibility and the qualifying-score basis on the official DASA portal before you apply.

Seats, fees and the schedule

The number of DASA seats, their distribution across institutes and categories, the application and counselling schedule, and the fee structure are all decided annually and published on the official portal. DASA fees are typically set separately from the domestic fee structure.

We do not list specific cutoffs, seat counts or fee amounts here because they change every cycle. Always confirm the current seat matrix, fees and important dates on the official DASA website.

Apply through official channels only

Apply only through the official DASA portal. No agent can guarantee a DASA seat — admission depends entirely on official eligibility and the published merit/counselling process. Treat any "guaranteed admission" offer with caution and cross-check every detail against the official DASA website.