Mumbai: The Department of Higher and Technical Education (HTED), Maharashtra issued a government resolution (GR) on 6th April, 2026, providing guidelines for the implementation of the fourth-year Honours and Honours with Research courses as part of the new four-year undergraduate programme under the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The GR was passed with reference to previously issued GRs which mentioned the following:
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Subsections b, c, and f under Section 2 (Credit Framework under Three/Four-Years UG Programme with Multiple Entry and Multiple Exit options) of G.R. No. NEP-2022 /CR No. 09/VISHI-3, issued on 20th April, 2023: These subsections introduced the effective date of the fourth-year UG programme, credit distribution per semester, and the need for colleges offering only three-year undergraduate programmes to obtain permissions to commence the four-year programme as per prevailing statutory procedures.
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Subsection f under Section 8. Design of PG / Master’s programmes of G.R. No. NEP-2022 /CR No. 09/VISHI-3, issued on 16th May, 2023: This subsection stated that the curricular design of the first year of the two-year PG Programme will be aligned to that of fourth-year of four-year UG Honours Degree Programmes.
The GR has, therefore, issued additional guidelines for the smooth implementation of the new fourth-year UG programmes from the Academic Year 2026-27. These directives are discussed as follows.
Students may be eligible for admission to the fourth year Honours Programme only upon successfully earning the required 120–132 credits as well as a Cumulative Grade Point Average (C.G.P.A) of 7.5 by the end of the third year.
The sanctioned class strength for the fourth-year Honours with Research Programme will be defined by the number of recognised Ph.D. guides available for the the concerned subject, i.e. Sanctioned intake = Number of Recognised PhD Guides × 5.
All students are required to register with the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) portal in order to facilitate credit transfers and to implement the multiple entry/exit system.
Examinations are to be conducted semester-wise, comprising Comprehensive Continuous Evaluation (CCE) and Semester End Examination (SEE). Individual universities may determine the pattern of distribution between the CCE and SEE.
University Departments, Schools, and/or Institutes already offering postgraduate courses in the same subject do not require permission and may automatically start the fourth year of the UG Honours and the UG Honours with Research programmes.
Students from affiliated or autonomous colleges may seek admission through the process of lateral entry into different colleges or university departments where the fourth-year Honours and fourth-year Honours with Research programmes are already offered. Lateral entry into the relevant programme of study will be based on the validation of the achievement of prior learning outcomes, and will be subject to availability based on the approved intake capacity of the particular college or university department, as well as the reservation policy of Government of Maharashtra. Individual universities may determine their own guidelines for lateral entry, including prerequisites, supernumerary quota for lateral entry, and credit transfer through ABC.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations, 2021, permit up to 40% of the total courses in a particular programme in a semester to be offered through the Online Learning Courses provided by the SWAYAM platform.
For those colleges which do not have a postgraduate programme or a Ph.D. Research Center in a concerned Major Subject, individual universities are required to evolve suitable mechanisms and develop additional eligibility guidelines for the initiation of the fourth-year Honours and the fourth-year Honours with Research Programmes, respectively.
Those colleges with no PG programme may be considered eligible to start the Fourth-Year Honours Programme only if they have the necessary infrastructure and approved faculty for the Major subject at the 400-level (Level 6.0). Individual universities may define guidelines in relation to necessary infrastructure, valid NAAC grade, the minimum discipline-wise faculty strength per batch, etc. through approval of their statutory bodies.
As for the fourth-year Honours with Research Programme, the guidelines for colleges, which have undergraduate and postgraduate programmes but no Ph.D. Research Centre in the concerned Major Subject, may include a minimum number of recognized approved and permanent Ph.D. Guides; evidence of either active research in the last 5 years, as indicated by publications under indexed journal lists of SciFinder, Web of Science and Scopus, or ongoing/completed funded research projects; dedicated research laboratories; advanced instrumentation and allied facilities (e.g. good library and digital resources/databases, plagiarism detection software, data analysis software, high-speed internet, safety equipment etc); Research Ethics and Integrity Policy; associations with recognised research institutions (CSIR National labs, IITs, IISERs, Recognized Industry R&D Labs) etc. Individual universities may define these guidelines through approval by their statutory bodies.
The four-year Undergraduate Professional Engineering Programmes, as governed by the All India Council for technical education (AICTE), are to follow a separate curricular framework, which makes available the following options:
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B E/B Tech Program, Single Major, Single Multidisciplinary Minor (MDM) 7 Verticals:
i. Major or Programme Core; ii. Engg. and Sci Sub; iii. MDM; iv. Open Electives; v. Vocational and Skill Enhancement Courses; vi. Ability Enhancement Course (AEC), Value Education Course (VEC) & Indian Knowledge System (IKS); vii. Co-curricular Courses, On-the-Job Training (OJT), Field Project (FP), Community Engagement Programme (CEP), Research Project (RP).
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B Tech/ B E Program, Single Major, Double Minor (MDM and Emerging Specialization Minor) 8 Verticals:
i. Major or Programme Core; ii. Engg. and Sci Sub; iii. MDM; iv. Emerging Specialization Minor (additional 18-20 Credits); v. Open Electives; vi. Vocational and Skill Enhancement Courses; vii. AEC, VEC & IKS; viii. Co-curricular Courses, OJT, FP, CEP, RP.
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Honours B Tech/ B E Degree Program, Single MDM 7 Verticals:
i. Major or Programme Core (additional 18-20 Credits); ii. Engg. and Sci Sub; iii. MDM; iv. Open Electives; v. Vocational and Skill Enhancement Courses; vi. AEC, VEC & IKS; vii. Co-curricular Courses, OJT, FP, CEP, RP.
More information on the guidelines for the implementation of the fourth-year UG Honours and UG Honours with Research programmes is available at: https://gr.maharashtra.gov.in/Site/Upload/Government%20Resolutions/English/202604061944128308.pdf
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