All foreign national, NRI, OCI, and PIO candidates can go through DASA for admission to institutions like NIT, IIIT, or SPA. Application for both DASA and CSAB-Special counselling is through csab.nic.in/csab-special/.
Gauri Mittal | June 2, 2025 | 03:25 PM IST
The process for Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA) counselling is set to begin in June. It is a scheme by the ministry of education (MoE), Government of India, that gives admission to foreign nationals, NRIs, OCIs, and PIOs in BE/BTech, BArch and BPlan programmes in “premier technical institutes” in India, like National Institutes of Technology (NIT), Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), or School of Planning and Architecture (SPA).
Candidates who are foreign nationals, overseas citizens of India (OCI), persons of Indian origin (PIO), or non-resident Indians (NRI) are eligible under the DASA scheme. To take part in the DASA counselling, candidates must have scored a minimum of 75% marks (or 7.5 out of 10 CGPA) in Class 12 or equivalent. They must also have qualified the JEE Main examination.
One-third of the total DASA seats are reserved for children of Indian workers in Gulf (CIWG) category. Only NRI candidates are eligible for CIWG seats, and OCI/PIO candidates cannot apply under this category. The other seats are CIWG-Gen seats:
DASA (SAARC): Foreign nationals, NRIs, OCIs, and PIOs who are residents of SAARC countries, excluding India.
DASA (non-SAARC): Foreign nationals, NRIs, OCIs, and PIOs who are residents of countries outside of the SAARC bloc.
In order to complete the DASA 2025 registration, all candidates have to submit a non-refundable registration fee of USD 300.
In addition to this, candidates have to pay the tuition fee for the first semester which depends on the categories to which they belong.
The total fee for different candidates is given below.
Category | DASA enrollment fee (in USD) | Tuition fee |
DASA-CIWG | 300 | Rs 62,500 |
DASA (non-SAARC) | 300 | USD 4,000 |
DASA (SAARC) | 300 | USD 2,000 |
DASA-CIWG and DASA-Gen (double tag) | 300 | USD 4,000 |
Foreign nationals in SAARC countries who have passed qualifying exams in SAARC countries are eligible for a 50% fee waiver.
During the counselling rounds, candidates will have the option to:
‘Freeze’ the allocated seat: Accept the seat and not wish to participate in further rounds.
‘Float’ the allocated seat: Accept the seat and express willingness to participate in further rounds, for a better programme in any institute.
‘Slide’ the allocated seat: Accept the seat and express willingness to participate in further rounds, for a better programme in the same institute.
‘Surrender’ the allocated seat: Reject the seat and participate in further rounds for a better option.
‘Withdraw’ the allocated seat: Reject the seat and not willing to participate in further rounds.
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After the counselling process ends, selected candidates have to come to their allotted institute to complete the admission formalities and to pay the remainder of the tuition fees.
NRI, OCI, AND PIO candidates are eligible for participating in both DASA 2025 and CSAB-Special 2025 at the same time. Candidates applying to both the counselling process can refer to the website csab.nic.in/csab-special/.
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