NEW DELHI: Twenty-four candidates scored 100 percentile in Paper 1 of JEE (Main) this year for admission to engineering courses, according to the final merit list announced by the National Testing Agency (NTA) late Friday night. The results are based on the performance of candidates in the tests held in January and September.

Eight candidates from Telangana feature in the top 24, followed by five from Delhi, four from Rajasthan, three from Andhra Pradesh, two from Haryana and one each from Gujarat and Maharashtra.

JEE (Main) was conducted in January and from September 1-6, with the second cycle being postponed twice due to the pandemic.

Paper 1 is for admission to BTech/BE programmes in IITs, NITs and centrally-funded technical institutions (CFTIs). Results of Paper 2 for admission to B Arch courses are yet to be announced.

Based on the results of the JEE (Main)-Paper 1 and Paper 2, the top 2.45 lakh candidates will be eligible to appear for JEE (Advanced) for admission to the 23 premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). JEE (Advanced) is scheduled to be held on September 27.

The second cycle of exams was held amid safety measures due to the Covid-19 situation. The measures included staggered entry and exit for candidates to maintain social distancing norms, sanitisers and distribution of masks and contact-less verification of documents at the counters. Number of exam centres was increased to allow fewer candidates per room.

There had been a growing chorus for postponing JEE (Main) and NEET, but the Supreme Court dismissed all such pleas so that students don’t lose a year.