HYDERABAD: AP has about 3.10 lakh seats in 707 engineering colleges, while the number of students who qualified in Eamcet this year is just 2.08 lakh. With a total of 1.7 lakh seats lying vacant after first phase of counselling, the managements are exploring all options to avoid closing down.

As per norms, 70 per cent seats under convener quota should be filled through merit and the remaining 30 per cent under management quota, based on 10+2 results.

The managements are now trying to lure about 72,500 students who had skipped the Eamcet counselling and another 30,000 students who have not reported at the respective colleges.