JEE Main exam date for West Bengal was recently rescheduled by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The testing agency has postponed the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2026 exam slated for January 23 in view of clash with the auspicious festival of Saraswati Puja. As per the initial schedule, the national-level exam was scheduled between 21 and 29 January.

According to the notification issued on Thursday, 15 January, a revised exam date for the state will be announced soon.

In a post X, NTA stated, “In view of the representations received from candidates in the state of West Bengal regarding the celebration of Saraswati Puja on 23 January 2026, it has been decided that all candidates scheduled to appear for JEE (Main) in West Bengal on 23 January 2026 shall be allotted another date of examination among the advertised dates for JEE (Main) 2026 Session 1 examination. For any queries, candidates may DM @NTA_Helpdesk or write to us at jeemain@nta.ac.in,or contact us at 011-40759000.”

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed responsibility for the rescheduling of the JEE Main exam in West Bengal. Taking credit for rescheduling the exam, Mamata Banerjee in a social media post on X alleged that she lobbied for the interest of the students appearing in the engineering exam this year. Since, the examination has been postponed she asserted that the students will be able to celebrate the festival and offer prayer to Goddess Saraswati.

The post states, “Earlier GOI/ National Testing Agency had scheduled Joint Entrance Examination on 23 January, which happens to be Netaji’s birthday and Saraswati Puja, which the students are expected and habituated to celebrate with respect. This put our students into difficulty and I intervened to protest and seek a change.Due to my intervention, GOI/ National Testing Agency has arranged to give an alternative examination date for our boys and girls; so they will have scope to pray to Goddess Saraswati on that day! Best wishes!”

JEE Main 2026 admit card

On 8 January 2026, the JEE Main 2026 advance intimation slip for Allotment of Examination City was released at the official website, jeemain.nta.nic.in. The dates for both Paper 1 (B.E./B. Tech) and Paper 2 of Session 1 were also released. The Testing Agency will soon release the JEE Main 2026 Admit Card.

The Joint Entrance Examination will be held in two shifts on first four days. For Paper 1, exam will take place in first shift between 9:00 AM and 12 noon while the second shift exam will be held from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Notably, Paper 2 exam will be conducted on the last date in single shift between 9:00 AM and 12:30 PM.