The process of admission to C-DAC's PG Certificate Programmes begins with registration of prospective candidates on the C-DAC website, www.cdac.in or acts.cdac.in. Candidates are advised to read the instructions carefully while filling the online registration and application forms. Upon registering, candidates will get their Form Number that can be used to log in and fill the C-CAT application form online.

Admissions to all PG Certificate Programmes of C-DAC are done through C-DAC's computerized Common Admission Test (C-CAT).

Every year, C-CAT is conducted in January (for February admissions) and July (for August admissions).

Candidates who qualify the upcoming C-CAT scheduled on January 10 / 11, 2026 will only be considered for admission to C-DAC’s Post Graduate Certificate Programmes of February 2026 batch on the basis of their C-CAT ranks and can further participate in counseling rounds.

Important Note: The Form Number and password must be remembered by the candidate as it will be the reference number and login ID of the candidate during the whole admission process.

C-CAT Application – Filling Personal Details
Once candidates have completed registration, the next step is to log in and fill the C-CAT application form by entering the personal and qualifying degree details. All particulars provided in the registration and application forms must match with those in the documents that will be submitted at the time of admission.

C-CAT Application – Selection of Category of Courses
Next, candidates have to select the category (II or III) of PG Certificate Programmes which they wish to apply.

Important Notes:

• Candidates selecting category III can apply for all PG Certificate Programmes of C-DAC, provided they are eligible for these courses and obtain C-CAT ranks in categories II and III.
• Similarly, Category II candidates can apply for the courses under category II.
• Once the application form is submitted online, candidates will not have option to change the category of courses selected in the application form.

C-CAT Application – Uploading Candidate’s Photo
After filling the application form, candidates have to upload their clear passport size photograph.

C-CAT Application – Selection of Examination City
In this step, candidates must give three choices of cities for appearing C-CAT. Refer to Section 14(b) of this Admission Booklet regarding C-CAT city preferences and allocation.

C-CAT Application – Payment of Examination Fee
The final step of C-CAT application is the online payment of C-CAT fee. The details of payment are given in the section C-CAT Fee.

The steps successfully completed in the application process are shown with a tick-mark on the main menu of the online application. Candidates are advised to print/screen-shot their filled-in application form that can be obtained by clicking the 'View/Print Application Form' on the main menu and keep it for their records. Candidates facing any issues during online registration and application may contact C-DAC ACTS Pune (020-25503143; actssupport@cdac.in).

C-DAC's Post Graduate Certificate Programmes are 24-week’s full-time courses of 1200 hours (including 300 hours of self study) of 40 credits. The list of PG Certificate Programmes being offered in February 2026 along with their eligibility criteria and fees is given in Table 1.

Mode of Delivery of PG Certificate Programmes in the February 2026 Batch

• PGCP-AC, PGCP-BDA and PGCP-AI will be delivered in FULLY ONLINE OR FULLY PHYSICAL mode depending on the centre offering these courses. The mode of conduct of these courses at various training centres of C-DAC is mentioned in Table 4.
• PGCP-ESD, PGCP-ITISS, PGCP-MC, PGCP-VLSI, PGCP-ASSD, PGCP-HPCSA, and PGCP-RAT will be delivered in fully PHYSICAL mode at all the training centres offering these courses.
• PGCP-FBD and PGCP-CSF will be delivered in fully ONLINE mode only.

For online courses, students are required to have laptops/PCs with high-speed uninterrupted internet connection, webcam and microphone to effectively participate in the course from their homes or personal places. It is not advisable to join the online classes from mobile phones.

Minimum Eligibility Criteria Common for C-DAC's PG Certificate Programmes
• Graduate in Engineering or Technology (10+2+4 or 10+3+3 years) in IT / Computer Science / Electronics / Telecommunications / Electrical / Instrumentation.
OR
• M.Sc./MS (10+2+3+2 years) in Computer Science, IT, Electronics.

In addition to the common eligibility criteria given above, candidates with the course-specific qualifications mentioned in Table 1 are ALSO ELIGIBLE for the particular courses. Minimum percentage of marks required in the qualifying examination is also stated in Table 1. The minimum percentage of marks will be considered as per the norms of the university from where the candidate has graduated.

Table 1: C-DAC's PG Certificate Programme and their eligibility criteria. * For any specific engineering or postgraduate courses that are not mentioned in Table 1, candidates may check their course eligibility by emailing their certificates and mark-sheets to actssupport@cdac.in before the last date of C-CAT application.

For the online courses, laptop/PC configuration, and hardware, software and network specifications required are given in Section 18 of this Admission Booklet.

There is no age restriction for admission to C-DAC’s PG Certificate Programmes. Candidates who have appeared for the final examination of their qualifying degree in 2026 will also be considered for admission to the above courses. By qualifying in C-DAC's admission tests of January 2026, such university result-awaiting candidates can apply for provisional admission in February 2026 batch, subject to the condition that:
(a) All parts of their qualifying degree examination shall be completed by the date of joining the course, and
(b) Proof of having passed the qualifying degree with at least the required minimum marks shall be submitted at C-DAC by 30 June 2026.

Important Notes: - Candidates should ensure that they meet the eligibility criteria of the courses for which they are applying. It shall be incumbent upon candidates to prove they meet the prescribed eligibility criteria at the time of taking admission at allocated centre. Issuance of Admit Card and/or C-CAT rank does not automatically entitle a candidate to admission. In case a candidate is found to be non-eligible during any stage of the admission process or course delivery, his/her admission will be cancelled with immediate effect.
- For any admission-related correspondence with C-DAC, candidates must email to the addresses mentioned in this Admission Booklet from their registered email, and must mention their name and C-CAT Form No. without which C-DAC may not be able to respond to these candidates.

Admissions to all PG Certificate Programmes of February 2026 batch are done through C-DAC's Common Admission Test (C-CAT) that will be conducted in computerised mode physically at C-DAC's test centres on January 10 and January 11, 2026. Candidates have to apply for C-CAT online at www.cdac.in or acts.cdac.in. Candidates who clear the January 2026 C-CAT will only be considered for admission to C-DAC's PG Certificate Programmes of February 2026 batch on the basis of their C-CAT ranks and centre/course preferences.

C-CAT Test Papers
C-CAT has three sections (Section A, Section B, Section C) of one hour duration each. As shown in Table 5, depending on the category of courses selected by the candidate, he/she will have to either appear for two test papers (Section A and Section B) or all the three test papers (Section A, Section B and Section C). The medium of C-CAT is English.

Important Note: A candidate can appear only for the specific section(s) in C-CAT as per the category of the courses opted by him/her at the time of filling the online application form.

Every section in C-CAT will have 50 objective-type questions. Each question will have four choices as possible answers of which only one will be correct. There will be +3 (plus three) marks for each correct answer, -1 (minus one) for each wrong answer, and 0 (zero) marks for each un-attempted question. The maximum mark a candidate can obtain in any one section of C-CAT is 150.

Categories of PG Certificate Programmes and the corresponding test paper(s) in C-CAT

Indicative syllabus of the different sections of test papers in C-CAT. The list of reference books for the various topics of C-CAT is given in Table 6b. Candidates are, however, advised to read more books than the ones specified in this table.

Reference books for the various topics in C-CAT.

C-CAT Schedule
C-CAT for admission to the February 2026 batch of PG Certificate Programmes will be held in computerised mode physically at C-DAC’s test centres on January 10 and January 11, 2026. The tentative schedule for different test papers of C-CAT is given in Table below. The exact schedule of C-CAT will be communicated to the candidates through the Admit Card.

Table: Tentative schedule of January 2026 C-CAT. C-CAT Cities
C-CAT will be conducted in computerised mode in various cities across India. The list of cities where C-CAT will be conducted in January 2026 is given in Table below. Candidates need to give 3 choices of cities while filling the online C-CAT application form. Refer to Section 14(b) of this Admission Booklet regarding C-CAT city preferences and allocation.

The C-CAT city once selected in the online application form cannot be changed unless approved in writing by C-DAC, subject to availability of seats on the requested city. All such signed letters of requests with proof of valid reasons should be received at actssupport@cdac.in before the last date of C-CAT application.

Table: Cities where C-CAT will be conducted in January 2026*. * C-DAC at its discretion may cancel any of the above C-CAT cities due to less number of candidates or any emergency situation arising out of pandemic/calamities or any other relevant reasons. Refer to Section 14(b) regarding C-CAT city preferences and allocation.

C-CAT Admit Cards
Candidates can download their admit cards from C-DAC’s website during the dates mentioned under Important Dates. The venue, date and time of C-CAT will be communicated to the candidates on the admit cards. Instructions for appearing C-CAT will also be given on the admit card. Candidates must appear for C-CAT on the date and time at the venue specified on the admit card. The examination fee will not be refunded to candidates who are absent or coming late for C-CAT.

No candidate will be permitted to appear for C-CAT without a valid admit card. The admit card along with a photo identity proof must be presented to the C-CAT officials/invigilators for verification at the time of the test.

C-CAT fee structure is given in Table below. Candidates may note that the C-CAT fee once paid is not refundable.

Table: Category-wise C-CAT fee (inclusive of GST). After filling the online C-CAT application form, the examination fee must be paid online. It can be paid using credit/debit cards through the payment gateway that will be opened upon clicking the 'Online' option of the 'Make Payment' step on the main menu of the application. Candidates are advised to follow the instructions/steps given on the payment gateway, and also print/save the transaction details for their records.

On receiving the examination fee at C-DAC, the ‘Make Payment’ step on the main menu of the online application will be tick-marked, and the status of payment will be updated on the ‘Status Check’ menu. The pdf application form obtained by clicking the ‘View/Print Application Form’ on the main menu will now have the transaction details of the payment made. Candidates facing any issues during online payment may contact C-DAC ACTS Pune through phone (020-25503143) or email (actssupport@cdac.in).

Important dates related to admission to C-DAC's PG Certificate Programmes of February 2026 batch through the C-CAT of January 2026.