Kolkata, April 20 -- Kuntal Choudhury of West Bengal secured 99.9984908 percentile in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2026, emerging as the highest scorer from the state, according to results declared by the National Testing Agency on April 20.
Choudhury, a resident of Bolgona village in Bhatar block of Purba Bardhaman district, had also topped the state in the January session.
At the national level, 26 candidates secured 100 percentile in Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech), with none from West Bengal. Among candidates from the state, Choudhury ranked first and stood 30th among state toppers nationally.
He completed his Madhyamik examination in 2023 from Balgona Susundighi High School and passed the Higher Secondary examination in 2025 from Bhatar Madhab Public High School, securing 493 marks and placing fifth in the state.
Choudhury said he had appeared for the examination last year but did not achieve the expected result, following which he continued his preparation. He relied primarily on online coaching along with a self-designed study routine at home. He aims to pursue computer science at an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).
JEE (Main) 2026 was conducted in two sessions, in January and April, with the best of the two scores considered for ranking. The examination was held in computer-based mode across multiple shifts in 13 languages, including Bengali. According to the agency, in the January session, 13,04,653 candidates appeared across 326 cities in India and 15 centres abroad. For the April session, 11,10,904 candidates registered, of whom 10,34,330 appeared, recording an attendance of 93.11 per cent.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.