This year, the total number of applicants for the joint entrance exam (JEE), have gone up by 5,000 as compared to last year, to get the most coveted seat in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) from Mumbai zone.

While number of applicants from Mumbai is almost the same, there is a substantial growth in the number of applicants from tier-II cities like Nagpur and Jaipur this year, which also falls in the Mumbai zone.

The total numbers of applicants across the country has gone up from over 4.5 lakh to 5.3 lakh this year. Over 5.3 lakh candidates across the country would be vying for 9,600 seats in IITs.

From the Mumbai zone itself, which also has the highest numbers of applicants from the seven zones, 85,169 students have applied for the IIT-JEE. Students from Maharashtra, Goa, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Belgaum from Karnataka also apply from the Mumbai zone.

According to the chairman of IIT-JEE from IIT-Bombay, Abhijeet Chatterjee, candidates from tier-II cities contribute the most to the increase in numbers.

“Nagpur from Maharashtra sees a growth in applicants every year. Several students had to travel to Mumbai till last year as there were limited centres. This year, we have increased the number of centres in Nagpur to accommodate the applicants from there,” said Chatterjee.

He also added that in the last few years the numbers of applicants from the Jaipur also has gone up owing to the coaching hub in Kota.

“Thousands of students from across the country migrate to Kota for two years due to the coaching institutes. This is a recent trend and almost 52,000 candidates are from Rajasthan, which is more than half the total applicants,” he said.

The number of applicants from the Mumbai zone has gone up by 200%. Sounak Kumar Choudhury, chairman, IIT-Kanpur that the Mumbai zone has the maximum number of applicants registered this year followed by Kanpur and Delhi. The exam will be conducted on April 10.