Bengaluru: Just 17% of engineering graduates in Karnataka are employable, according to a report by the state’s Engineering Education Transformation Committee, highlighting a serious skills and jobs mismatch.

The panel—led by Prof. Sadagopan with experts from premier institutes—points to oversupply in computer science, falling enrolment in core branches (mechanical, civil, electrical), declining quality in colleges, and weak industry-ready skills as key reasons.

At the same time, the report flags acute talent shortages in high-growth sectors: semiconductors (2.5–3 lakh nationally by 2027; 10,000–15,000 in Karnataka), aerospace and defence (4,500–8,500), electric vehicles (6,000–11,000), clean energy (5,000–9,000), and biomedical devices (2,200–4,200)—gaps unlikely to be filled by IT graduates alone.

To address this, the committee proposes a new regulator—the Karnataka Engineering Education Reforms Authority (KEERA)—and a CORE + AI model combining strong fundamentals with AI integration, hands-on “build-test-fail” learning, and measures to revive enrolment.

It also recommends tighter controls on admissions, mandatory NBA/NAAC accreditation, and caps on the number of computer-related courses to improve quality.

Higher Education Minister Dr. M.C. Sudhakar said the government plans to bring a law to establish KEERA and roll out reforms in phases.