NEET Re-Exam 2026: Maharashtra minister say re-NEET may delay engineering, pharmacy admissions in state

Mumbai: Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil has said the NEET-UG re-examination scheduled next month will delay admissions and academic session of engineering and pharmacy colleges in the state.

The Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell had planned to complete admissions by June-end, but the re-examination is scheduled for June 21, which "will further push the admission schedule," Patil told reporters on Wednesday. Admissions to nine engineering branches and 15 per cent pharmacy seats reserved under the all-India quota rely on National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) scores, and the process cannot proceed until the re-examination is held and results are out, he noted.

Engineering admissions cannot begin earlier because several students who do not perform well in NEET later opt for engineering courses, Patil said. He made the remarks while unveiling measures to tighten regulations on college fee collection and expand financial assistance for female students pursuing higher education.

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Colleges will no longer be allowed to levy separate charges under multiple heads, like development fees and laboratory fees, the minister said. All compulsory charges will be consolidated into a single fee category overseen by the Fee Regulatory Authority, he added.

The NEET 2026 exam for admission to undergraduate courses in medical colleges, conducted across 551 Indian cities and at 14 overseas centres on May 3, was cancelled after information about alleged malpractice was received on the evening of May 7.

Nearly 23 lakh candidates had registered for the test. A retest is scheduled for June 21. The government has asked the CBI to carry out a comprehensive inquiry into the "irregularities".