IIT - JEE 2025

JoSAA vs CSAB Counselling 2025: Key difference, Seat Allotment and Process, Fees

Compare JoSAA vs CSAB Counselling 2025 – Know key differences, seat allotment process, choice filling steps, fees, and rank criteria.

Deepali

May 16, 2025 - 18:37

May 16, 2025 - 18:39

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JoSAA vs CSAB Counselling

JoSAA vs CSAB Counselling 2025: If you're a student aiming for admission to top engineering institutes like IITs, NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs, you'll need to navigate the JoSAA Counselling 2025 and CSAB Counselling processes for 2025. While both are designed to help allocate seats in these prestigious technical institutions, they each have their unique purposes and ways of operating.

In this blog, we’ll dive into the differences between JoSAA and CSAB 2025. We’ll cover everything from seat selection options and allocation processes to counselling fees and the all-important opening and closing ranks.

Check out: List of Top IIT Colleges in India

What is JoSAA Counselling 2025?

The Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) is in charge of centralized counselling for admissions to:

- 23 IITs

- 32 NITs

- 26 IIITs

- 33 GFTIs

JoSAA counselling for 2025 will take place over 6 rounds, allowing candidates to lock in their choices, accept seats, or even upgrade to higher preferences.

To be eligible for IIT admissions, candidates must qualify for JEE Advanced 2025, while those who qualify for JEE Main 2025 can apply to institutes in the NIT+ system through JoSAA.

What is CSAB Counselling 2025?

The Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) Counselling 2025 organizes special counselling rounds to fill any vacant seats left after JoSAA counselling in NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs (IITs are not included).

There are two types of CSAB Counselling:

CSAB Special Round: This is for filling vacant seats in NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs after JoSAA.
CSAB Supernumerary Round: This is specifically for NRI, OCI, and CIWG candidates.

Candidates who didn’t secure a seat through JoSAA or are looking to upgrade to a better branch or institute can apply for the CSAB 2025 special rounds.

JoSAA vs CSAB Counselling 2025: Key Differences

Features	JoSAA Counselling	CSAB Counselling
Full Form	Joint Seat Allocation Authority	Central Seat Allocation Authority
Participating Insititute Name	IITs, NITs, IIITs, and GFITs	NITs, IIITs, and GFITs, but no IITs Insititute include.
Purpose of Counselling	JoSAA Counselling for seat allotment	CSAB Counselling used to fill remaining seats after JoSAA Counselling.
Eligibility	JEE Main and Advanced qualified students.	Only JEE Main qualified students.
Counselling Round	6 Rounds	2 Rounds
Seat Type	Fresh Seats are available and Seat Upgartion up to the JoSAA round.	Only Leftover Seats are available after JoSAA Counselling.
Seat Withdrawal Option	Available	Not Available (When You locked for special round 2)
Fees	General/OBC - Rs. 35,000 SC/ST/PwD - Rs. 15,000	General/OBC - Rs. 38,000 SC/ST/PwD - Rs. 18,000

JoSAA vs CSAB Seat Allotment Process 2025: Complete Comparison

Here’s a thorough comparison table of the JoSAA vs CSAB Seat Allotment Process for 2025, highlighting all the key aspects of the counselling and seat allocation process:

Features	JOSAA Counselling	CSAB Counselling
Purpose	JoSAA Counselling is used for seat allocation for IITs, NITs, IIITs and GFTIs.	CSAB Counselling is used to fill leftover seats in NITs, IIITs and GFTIs after JoSAA.
Registration	In JOSAA Counselling, students must visit to JOSAA Official website only single-time registration is enough for all 6 rounds.	In CSAB Counselling Fresh and Separate registration is mandatory, even if you registered in JOSAA.
Choice filling	Students should initially choose to fill during registration. It can be updated before locking.	Students should choose their favourite college to get admission. It can be updated before locking.
Choice locking	Once Student chooses their course and college, they lock in the choices. Students need to remember that seats will be based on jee main rank.	Once Student chooses their course and college, they lock in the choices.
Document Verification	Every Round, Online document verification must.	Online documents must be uploaded and verified.
Reporting	After the final round, the Student must report to the allotted institute at a specific date or time.	After the special round 2, the Student must collect all required documents and report to the allotted institute.

JoSAA vs CSAB: Seat Selection Choices – Detailed

Feature	JOSAA	CSAB
Freeze	They must accept the allotted seat. Students don’t participate in further rounds.	It will same as the JOSAA round. In this counselling final acceptance of a seat.
Float	Students should prepared to upgrade to another institute.	Students should be eligible for upgrades to higher institutes.
Slide	Students should accept seats but be prepared to upgrade within the same institute.	In the CSAB Counselling, an upgrade is possible within the same institute to a higher preferred branch.
Surrender	Not Available in JoSAA	If the Student is not satisfied before the final reporting then surrender the allotment seat.
Withdraw	Withdraw is allowed until round 5-exit counselling.	Withdraw allowed before final seat allotment reporting and make sure no seat is retained.
Availability of Options	Round 1 to round 5	Only in special round 1

Also Read: JoSAA Seat Matrix 2025: Total Seats in IITs, NITs, IIITs, GFTIs by Course Wise

CSAB vs JoSAA Counselling Fees

Category wise	JoSAA Counselling Fees	CSAB Counselling Fees
General/OBC	Rs. 35,000	Rs. 38,000
SC/ST	Rs. 15,000	Rs. 18,000
Refund Policy	Refundable after seat withdrawal.	Partial refund if no seat is allotted but Rs.2,000 deducted.

CSAB vs JoSAA Opening and Closing Ranks

JoSAA Opening & Closing Rank

JoSAA typically has higher opening and closing ranks because it involves more seats and top-tier candidates right from the start.

For example (JEE Main Rank):

Institute Name	Branch Name	Open and close rank
NIT Trichy	Computer Science and Engineering	Approx 10,000
NIT Surathkal	Mechanical Engineering	Approx 21,000
IIIT Hyderabad	Electrical communication Engineering	Approx 8,000

CSAB Opening & Closing Rank

On the other hand, CSAB gives lower-ranked candidates a shot at admission due to available vacant seats.

Institute Name	Branch Name	Open and close rank
NIT Trichy	Computer Science and Engineering	Approx 14,000-15,000
NIT Surathkal	Mechanical Engineering	Approx 25,000- 28000
IIIT Hyderabad	Electrical communication Engineering	Approx 12000-13000

There are instances where students with ranks over 40,000 secure spots in respectable branches thanks to seat vacancies and withdrawals in JoSAA.

Final Thoughts: JoSAA or CSAB – Which One Should You Choose?

JoSAA is the main and most crucial counselling process. If you're aiming for IITs, NITs, IIITs, or GFTIs, you need to register and take part in it first.

CSAB acts as a backup option to grab a seat, especially useful if:

You didn’t secure a seat in JoSAA.

You’re looking to upgrade from your current seat.

You missed out on JoSAA counselling altogether.

Suggestions:

Always start with JoSAA counseling for 2025.

If you’re not happy with your allocation or didn’t get a seat, then consider the CSAB Special Rounds.

Be sure to choose your preferences wisely, particularly during CSAB, since seat withdrawals aren’t permitted.

FAQs on JoSAA vs CSAB Counseling

Q1. Can I get an IIT seat through CSAB?

Ans. No, CSAB doesn’t manage admissions for IITs—only for NITs, IIITs, and GFT

Q2. Can I join CSAB without going through JoSAA?

Ans. Yes, but only if you’ve qualified for JEE Main 2025. However, it’s best to attend JoSAA first.

Q3. Will I keep my JoSAA seat if I decide to participate in CSAB?

Ans. No, if you accept a new seat in CSAB, your JoSAA seat will be forfeited.

Q4. Are there any downsides to accepting a seat through CSAB?

Ans. Not really; the degree and seat quality are the same, but you’ll have fewer options and no withdrawal option in CSAB.