The last date for registration for Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) 2026 has been extended to June 5, S. Visakan, Director of Technical Education, said at a review meeting attended by Minister for Higher Education P. Viswanathan in Chennai on Monday.The counselling for admission to first year and part-time diploma courses in government polytechnic colleges commenced on Monday.During a review of the ongoing admission process in State-run institutions, the minister was informed that as on May 31, as many as 2,81,502 students have registered their applications at the TNEA portal (www.tneaonline.org) and 2,17,627 of them have paid the application fees. The last date for uploading certificates is June 6 following which the TNEA will assign random numbers to candidates on June 10. The rank list will be published on June 29. While the counselling dates were yet to be announced, the TNEA authorities informed the minister that they were keeping an eye on developments pertaining to CBSE exam paper enumeration fiasco that may delay the distribution of mark sheets.In addition, the counselling process for admission to polytechnic courses began at the respective colleges on Monday. As many as 18,888 students have applied for admission to first year through the portal www.tnpoly.in. In 44 of the 55 government polytechnic colleges, Industry 4.0 Skill Centres have been established in collaboration with the Tata group offering three new diploma programmes – Digital Manufacturing Technologies, Automation and Robotics, and Internet of Things. As many as 3,570 additional seats have been created to facilitate student enrolment, Mr. Visakan, said.On the other hand, over 2.24 lakh applications were received from students as on May 29 for admission to government arts and science colleges through the portal www.tngasa.in. Counselling for special category candidates – persons with disabilities, sports quota, Tamil students from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, children of ex-servicemen, NCC candidates, and defence personnel quota candidates – will be conducted on June 5 and June 6. General counselling will start from June 8 at the respective colleges. Those who have missed the first window for registration will get another chance to register from June 1 and the admission process will continue till the seats are filled, E. Sundaravalli, Commissioner of Collegiate Education, informed the minister.V. Arun Roy, Secretary, Higher Education Department, was present at the review meeting. Published - June 01, 2026 08:02 pm IST