Bengaluru, Sep 1 (IANS): As many as 43,894 students are expected to write the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Main) at 33 centres in Karnataka from September 1 to 6.

Deputy Chief Minister and Higher Education Minister C. N. Ashwath Narayan said the department and National Testing Agency are set to conduct the exam as arrangements similar to KCET have been made.

"I convey my best wishes to the entire student community across the nation for the JEE examination. May God bless you all with success. Stay calm. Stay focused," said Narayan on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the number of candidates who applied for JEE Main has dropped by almost 50 per cent compared to January. From 82,859 candidates, it came down to 43,894.

Before allowing entry into the examination hall on Tuesday, the temperature of the examinees was checked.

Earlier, KCET 2020 was held in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, requiring the organisers to take extra precautionary measures including physical distancing and sanitisation.

It was held on July 30 and 31 at 497 examination centres across the state, with only 1.75 lakh candidates of the 1.94 lakh applicants appearing.

Among the examinees were 63 students infected with coronavirus, for whom separate examination centres were set up at Covid Care Centres under the supervision of medical professionals.

Likewise, the examination for students suffering from symptoms such as fever and cough was also conducted in separate rooms.