Close to 62,000 candidates have secured ranks in the Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE)-2026, results of which were declared by the skill development and technical education (SDTE) department on Monday. The OJEE committee conducted the examination.Announcing the results, SDTE minister Sampad Chandra Swain said 1,03,434 candidates registered for OJEE 2026 of whom 92,628 appeared for the entrance examination, recording an attendance rate of 89.55%. Of them, 62,691 candidates, excluding nursing aspirants, have been allotted ranks based on their performance in the exam for admission to various professional courses in the state. The results of nursing aspirants will be declared later by the directorate of medical education and training (DMET), the minister said.An aspirant from Sarangadharpur in Nayagarh district, Swagat Kumar Behura, emerged as the overall topper in MTech across all specialisations. Tribikram Pradhan of Kendrapara topped the MBA examination, while Balasore’s Naren Patra emerged as the topper in MCA/MSc. The list of toppers also included Bhubaneswar’s Subhranshu Sutar in BPharm, Keonjhar’s Arun Kumar Jena in LE-Tech (Diploma), Jajpur’s Suraj Kumar Jha in LE-Tech (BSc), Shreemayee Panigrahi in Integrated MBA, Shyamsundar Behera in MPharm, Sai Arya Anushka Nayak in BArch and Dev Mandal in BCAT (cinematography, sound recording and sound design).OJEE-2026 was conducted for admission to a wide range of technical and professional courses, including BCAT, BPharm, MBA, MCA, Integrated MBA, MPharm, MArch, MPlan, MTech (11 specialisations) and nursing programmes offered by govt and private institutions across Odisha for the 2026-27 academic session. OJEE committee chairman D P Satpathy said candidates who have secured ranks can download their rank cards from the OJEE website and participate in the counselling process for admission to various govt and private colleges and institutions in Odisha, subject to their rank and other eligibility criteria.“Counselling will begin after the Raja festival in the third week of June,” he said.While the All India Council for Technical Education mandates completion of all admissions by Aug 14, Satpathy said the admission process for all courses would be completed before the deadline.
