Registration for the CSAB Special Round 2026 went live on 28 July 2026, giving candidates who missed a seat in JoSAA another shot at the NIT+ system through csab.nic.in. This year’s round is notably larger than usual: the Central Seat Allocation Board has expanded its participating institutes to 114, up from 105 last year, after nine additional GFTIs joined the fold, pushing the total number of available seats to roughly 48,000, compared to just 14,000 seats in 2025. Registration and choice filling will remain open until 3 August 2026, based entirely on each candidate’s JEE Main 2026 rank.
What’s Driving This Year’s Bigger Special Round
CSAB chairman Acharya V.M.S.R. Murthy confirmed that the sharp jump in seat availability is largely due to the newly added GFTIs, which broadens the pool of institutes beyond the usual NITs, IIITs, and IIEST Shibpur. For students who did not secure a seat during any JoSAA round, this expanded matrix means considerably better odds this year than in 2025. The CSAB Special Round will run in two phases in 2026, rather than the multiple smaller rounds seen in earlier years, so candidates get only two allotment opportunities to work with.
Who Is Eligible to Register This Time
Eligibility is open to candidates who never registered for JoSAA but otherwise meet the criteria, those who registered for JoSAA but received no seat, and those whose earlier seat allotment was cancelled. Applicants must have cleared Class 12 (or an equivalent board exam) in 2024, 2025, or 2026, and their date of birth must match the details already on file in the JEE Main 2026 information bulletin. Importantly, choices submitted earlier on the JoSAA portal csab.nic.in will not carry over automatically — every candidate must build a fresh preference list specifically for this NIT+ system round.
Also Read….DASA UG 2026
