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Rank 72,430 Got a Seat: How the Home State Quota Rewrites CLAT Cutoffs
Most of the National Law Universities (NLUs) reserve seats for home-state candidates. For example, a student from Karnataka will have a state quota at NLSIU Bengaluru; similarly, each state offers state-quota reservation for candidates. As observed in the last CLAT attempt, the state domicile cutoffs for the general category were way more relaxed than the open general category cutoffs. As a simple instance, IIULER Goa closed admissions at rank 2,646 for the general category, whereas the Goa state general category admissions closed at rank 72,430. While this might seem like a one-off case, the difference in general category and home state general category cutoffs is substantial in most NLUs.
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What Is the CLAT Home State Quota?
As mentioned above, almost every NLU has some percentage of seats reserved for candidates of the state where the NLU is located. For example, NLSIU Bengaluru offers 310 seats for admission, of which 85 are reserved for candidates from the state of Karnataka. Similarly, NALSAR Hyderabad offers 132 seats for admission, of which 33 are reserved for the state of Telangana. Candidates will have to provide all valid information about their domicile. Candidates called for counselling will also be considered for admission based on their domicile. The table given below shows the CLAT domicile quota for all the NLUs.
NLU-wise Domicile Seats at a Glance
University | Programme | Total intake | Extra/supernumerary seats | Domicile quota seats | Domicile quota % |
NLSIU Bengaluru | BA LLB (Hons) | 310 | 85 | 25% stated (27.4% of 310) | |
NALSAR Hyderabad | BA LLB (Hons) | 132 | 3 additional over General | 33 | 25% |
NLIU Bhopal | BA LLB (Hons) | 134 | 5 foreign nationals (direct) | Not stated | 50% horizontal (MP) |
NLIU Bhopal | BSc LLB (Hons) Cyber Security | 68 | 5 foreign nationals (direct) | Not stated | 50% horizontal (MP) |
WBNUJS Kolkata | BA LLB (Hons) | 120 | J&K 2 supernumerary; NRI 20 included in 120 | 30 | 25% |
WBNUJS Kolkata | BSc LLB (Hons) | 60 | J&K 2 supernumerary; NRI 10 included in 60 | 18 | 30% |
NLU Jodhpur | BA LLB (Hons) | 130 | Not stated | 25% horizontal (Rajasthan) | |
NLU Jodhpur | BBA LLB (Hons) | 66 | Not stated | 25% horizontal (Rajasthan) | |
HNLU Raipur | BA LLB (Hons) | 180 | 10 NRI/foreign included; 7 more J&K and Kashmiri migrant seats | 85 | 47.2% of 180 (50% of 170) |
GNLU Gandhinagar | BA LLB, BBA LLB, BCom LLB, BSc LLB, BSW LLB (combined) | 207 | 31 supernumerary: NRI 16; Foreign 8; J&K 2; NEI 5 | 40 | 25% stated (22.7% of 176) |
GNLU Silvassa | BA LLB (Hons) | 66 | Not stated | 15 | 25% stated (22.7% of 66) |
RMLNLU Lucknow | BA LLB (Hons) | 191 | 22 supernumerary: NRI/foreign 20; Kashmiri 2 | No separate quota | UP-only category reservations |
RGNUL Punjab | BA LLB (Hons) | 180 | 34 supernumerary: EWS 18; Kashmiri migrants 9; J&K 2; NRI 5 | 18 | 10% |
CNLU Patna | BA LLB (Hons) | 69 | No separate quota | Bihar-only category reservations | |
CNLU Patna | BBA LLB (Hons) | 69 | No separate quota | Bihar-only category reservations | |
NUALS Kochi | BA LLB (Hons) | 60 | 18 supernumerary: Kerala EWS 6; Transgender 2; J&K 2; NRI 6; Foreign 2 | 29 | 48.3% (49% per brochure split) |
NLUO Odisha | BA LLB (Hons) | 120 | NRI 10; Foreign 4 | 23 | 25% horizontal |
NLUO Odisha | BBA LLB (Hons) | 60 | NRI 5; Foreign 2 | 10 | 25% horizontal |
NUSRL Ranchi | BA LLB (Hons) | 120 | 12 EWS supernumerary | 60 | 50% |
NUSRL Ranchi | BBA LLB (Hons) | 60 | 6 EWS supernumerary | 30 | 50% |
NLUJA Assam | BA LLB (Hons) | 120 | 30 supernumerary: EWS-AI 6; EWS-Assam 6; Defence 6; J&K migrants 6; NRI 6 | 38 | 31.70% |
DSNLU Visakhapatnam | BA LLB (Hons) | 198 | Included: 18 foreign/NRI (180 + 18) | 99 | 50% |
TNNLU Tiruchirappalli | BA LLB (Hons) | 60 | 27 | 45% of 120 total | |
TNNLU Tiruchirappalli | BCom LLB (Hons) | 60 | 27 | 45% of 120 total | |
MNLU Mumbai | BA LLB (Hons) | 100 | 22 supernumerary: FN/NRI 20; J&K 2 | Not stated | Maharashtra norms; no figure |
MNLU Nagpur | BA LLB (Hons) | 120 | No separate quota | All categories are Maharashtra-based | |
MNLU Nagpur | BA LLB (Hons) Adjudication and Justicing | 60 | No separate quota | All categories are Maharashtra-based | |
MNLU Nagpur | BBA LLB (Hons) | 60 | No separate quota | All categories are Maharashtra-based | |
MNLU Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | BA LLB (Hons) | 120 | 10 NRI | 86 | 72% |
MNLU Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | BBA LLB (Hons) | 60 | 5 NRI | 43 | 72% |
HPNLU Shimla | BA LLB (Hons) | 120 | 12 EWS supernumerary | 30 | 25% |
HPNLU Shimla | BBA LLB (Hons) | 60 | 6 EWS supernumerary | 15 | 25% |
DNLU Jabalpur | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
DBRANLU Haryana | BA LLB (Hons) | 120 | 24 | 20% | |
NLUT Agartala | BA LLB (Hons) | 60 | 9 | 30% horizontal stated | |
RPNLUP Prayagraj | BA LLB (Hons) | 60 | Kashmiri migrants: 5% of seats | No separate quota | UP-only category reservations |
IIULER Goa | BA LLB / BBA LLB (Hons) | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | 20% |
NLU Meghalaya | UG | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | 50% |
The Home Advantage in Numbers: Open vs Home-State Cutoffs
Looking at data from the previous year CLAT seat allotment, domicile reservation gives a clear edge to candidates. On analysing the general category cutoff and state domicile general category cutoff, it was found that all the colleges have relaxed cutoffs for state candidates. IIULER Goa is the law school with the biggest advantage for state-domicile candidates. Its general category closing rank went to 2,646, while its Goa State General Category cutoff was 27 times higher, closing at 72,430 rank.
IIULER Goa is not alone; GNLU Silvassa, which offers domicile reservation for Dadra & NH / Daman & Diu candidates, closed at 1500 rank for general category, but the state general category closing rank for admissions was 30,249, which is a 20x increase. GNLU Gandhinagar, a tier 1 NLU, closed its general category admissions at 398 rank, whereas its Gujarat state general category admissions closed at 3,940 rank. Talking about the top three NLUs - NLSIU Bengaluru, NALSAR Hyderabad, WBNUJS Kolkata, there was a difference of 3.1x, 3.4x and 2.2x, respectively, in cutoffs of general category and state domicile general category. The table below shows the stark difference between the general category and state general category.
Home State General vs Open General Category Cutoffs
NLU | Home state | Open General closing AIR | Home-state closing AIR | Extra ranks of reach | Multiplier (x) | Number of allotments |
IIULER Goa | Goa | 2,646 | 72,430 | +69,784 | 27.4x | 18 |
GNLU Silvassa | Dadra & NH / Daman & Diu | 1,500 | 30,249 | +28,749 | 20.2x | 10 |
GNLU Gandhinagar | Gujarat | 398 | 3,940 | +3,542 | 9.9x | 41 |
NLUT Agartala | Tripura | 2,410 | 22,355 | +19,945 | 9.3x | 9 |
HPNLU Shimla | Himachal Pradesh | 2,108 | 11,968 | +9,860 | 5.7x | 25 |
HNLU Raipur | Chhattisgarh | 806 | 3,942 | +3,136 | 4.9x | 37 |
DSNLU Visakhapatnam | Andhra Pradesh | 1,400 | 6,187 | +4,787 | 4.4x | 26 |
NUSRL Ranchi | Jharkhand | 1,440 | 5,339 | +3,899 | 3.7x | 36 |
NLUO Odisha | Odisha | 848 | 2,933 | +2,085 | 3.5x | 9 |
NALSAR Hyderabad | Telangana | 168 | 565 | +397 | 3.4x | 15 |
NLSIU Bengaluru | Karnataka | 108 | 336 | +228 | 3.1x | 29 |
WBNUJS Kolkata | West Bengal | 343 | 746 | +403 | 2.2x | 15 |
TNNLU Tiruchirappalli | Tamil Nadu | 1,528 | 2,992 | +1,464 | 2.0x | 10 |
NLUJA Assam | Assam | 2,049 | 3,519 | +1,470 | 1.7x | 8 |
NLU Jodhpur | Rajasthan | 364 | 600 | +236 | 1.6x | 18 |
NLIU Bhopal | Madhya Pradesh | 459 | 759 | +300 | 1.7x | 26 |
DBRANLU Sonepat | Haryana | 1,810 | 2,493 | +683 | 1.4x | 17 |
MPDNLU Jabalpur | Madhya Pradesh | 2,045 | 2,480 | +435 | 1.2x | 36 |
NUALS Kochi | Kerala | 1,156 | 1,286 | +130 | 1.1x | 7 |
RGNUL Punjab | Punjab | 1,141 | 1,161 | +20 | 1.0x | 13 |
What does it mean for CLAT 2027 aspirants?
Given what is at stake in the CLAT exam, candidates must make sure that they create the best chance for themselves. Candidates must look for ways to get the best seat for themselves. Candidates must understand the eligibility criteria of their state NLU and make sure they have all the documents for it. Also, during the counselling rounds, candidates must keep a very close eye on the cutoff shifts to understand and predict their admission chances in different rounds. Candidates must also ensure that they fill in their preferences in the correct order.
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CLAT 2027 aspirants can access these monthly current affairs compilations for regular revision. Use these resources to stay updated with important events and topics for CLAT 2027.
CLAT 2027 Current Affairs - Monthly Compilations
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CLAT Current Affairs- August Month (2026) |
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CLAT Current Affairs- |
If you have only two months, use a highly structured plan: daily current affairs, English reading, legal reasoning practice, logical reasoning sets, basic quantitative practice and regular full-length mocks. Spend as much time analysing incorrect questions as taking the mock itself. Consistency during these two months can make a substantial
You can download the CLAT previous years' question papers from here:
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