NTA that conducts NEET-UG, earned Rs 1,065 crore in 2023-24, income shot up after CUET

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has been making the headlines quite frequently in the second half of this year due to cancellation of tests and allegations of paper leaks as well as irregularities in the entrance examinations conducted by it including NEET, UGC NET, CUET.

After the NEET-UG 2024 paper leak, cancellation of UGC NET, NCET and delayed result of CUET UG 2024, NTA was discussed in the parliament, where a detailed working model of the agency was questioned.

Congress MP in Rajya Sabha Vivek K Tankha had questioned about the total revenue that NTA generated through application forms of the entrance examinations and other services since 2018 when it was set up.

Responding to Tankha’s question, Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Education, Dr Sukanta Majumdar said that the NTA is self-supporting through the fee collected for the examination.

As per the details provided in the parliament, since its inception in 2018, NTA reported earning of Rs 3,512.98 crore.

Of the total earning, Rs 3,064.77 crore was allocated to conduct examinations, the Education Ministry’s report to Parliament mentioned.

Year-wise NTA earning and spending

In the financial year 2018-2019, the fee income was Rs 101,51 crores while expenditure was Rs 118.43 crore.

In 2019-2020, the fee income rose to Rs 488.08 crores, while the total expenditure stood at Rs 390.01 crores.

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In 2020-2021, the fee income was Rs 494.46 crores and the total expenditure was Rs 426.52 crores.

In the financial year 2022-2023, the fee income almost doubled to Rs 873.20 crores, while expenditure increased to Rs 681.52 crores.

For the financial year 2023-24, the estimated fee income was Rs 1065.38 crores and the expenditure was estimated around Rs 1020.35 crores.

Revenue increased after CUET introduction

The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) UG and PG examinations were introduced by the NTA in 2022 after which the fee income and total expenditure of the agency shot up dramatically with the fee income increasing to Rs 1,938.50 crores and total expenditure surging to Rs 1,701.87 crores.

The NTA’s revenue shot up by 78 per cent, from Rs 490.35 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 873.20 crore in 2022-23, majorly due to the introduction of CUET.

“Considering the sensitivity involved in competitive examinations, various operational and security measures are undertaken for their smooth and fair conduct,” Majumdar said.

The minister further went on to explain that in order to maintain examination integrity and efficiency, the NTA has used measures involving engagement of specialised/experienced agencies for providing services like capturing of Biometric, frisking, CCTV surveillance, AI analytics with a view to identify any potential impersonation, Exam delivery.

In over six years, the NTA has conducted more than 240 examinations for over 5.4 crore candidates.