Confirm the identity
Match the institute name, permanent ID, campus and city.
DIRECTORY NOTE 01Independent informational portal
How to read an AICTE approval record
The record is public and readable. Most people who open it do not know which fields decide the question, so here they are in order.
Use this directory to narrow the search. Use the regulator record to make the final decision.
VERIFICATION ROUTE / 2026A brochure is a claim. The current official record is the proof.Current file: How to read an AICTE approval record
Match the programme
Check the exact MBA, PGDM or management course and approved intake.
Match the academic year
An old letter is not proof for the current admission session.
The fields that matter
An approval record is a table, and most of it is administrative. These are the entries that carry the meaning:
| Permanent ID | The institution's stable identifier. Names change and similar names abound; the ID does not. |
|---|---|
| Institution name and address | Must match the entity making you the offer, including the campus address. |
| Programme / course | The exact course name. “MBA” and “PGDM” are not interchangeable here. |
| Approved intake | The seat count approved for that course for that year. |
| Academic year | The session the record applies to. |
| Status | Whether the approval is current, conditional or lapsed. |
The academic year is the field most often glossed over and the one that most often matters. An approval that was valid two sessions ago tells you about two sessions ago.
Four things that must match your offer exactly
- The institution. Same legal name and permanent ID as the one on your admission letter — not a similarly named trust or a group company.
- The campus. Approval attaches to a location. An off-campus centre is not covered by the main campus's record.
- The course. The exact programme, including specialisation where the record names one.
- The year. The current session, not the year the institution was first approved.
If all four match, the approval question is settled and you can move on to the questions that actually differentiate institutions. If any one does not, ask the institution about that specific field before anything else.
Three common misreadings
“Approved since 1998” is not a current approval. Longevity is a fine thing but the record you need is this year's.
Approval of the institution is not approval of your course. The record is granular for a reason; read the row, not the header.
A conditional or restricted status is not the same as a clean one. Where the record carries a condition, ask the institution what it is and what it means for your intake.
None of this requires expertise. It requires reading the row that corresponds to the course you are joining, in the year you are joining it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I check AICTE approval?
On AICTE's own institution records, which are public. Use a directory to find candidates, then confirm the institution, campus, course, intake and academic year on the official record before you pay anything.
What is a permanent ID?
A stable identifier for an institution that does not change when the name or branding does. It is the most reliable way to be sure the record you are reading belongs to the institution making you an offer.
The college showed me an approval letter. Is that enough?
Read the year on it. A letter is evidence of what was approved in the session it names; it is not evidence about the current session. Confirm against the current record.
What does 'approved intake' mean for me?
It is the maximum number of seats approved for that course that year. If an institution admits beyond its approved intake, the students admitted in excess can face difficulty at examination and certification stages.
What if the course is not listed at all?
Ask the institution directly which body governs that programme. For a university degree the answer is usually UGC rather than AICTE, and for a distance or online mode it is UGC-DEB — in which case the absence from AICTE's list is expected, not a problem.