The pending editions of Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)-Mains will be conducted from July 20 to 25 and July 27 to August 2, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' announced on Tuesday.

The results of the two editions, which were postponed in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, are likely to be announced in August.

"The third edition of JEE-Mains will be conducted from July 20-25 while the fourth edition will be held from July 27 to August 2. The exams will be conducted while following all Covid protocols keeping the safety of candidates in mind," the minister said.

According to an official notification issued by the National Testing Agency (NTA), the candidates who have applied earlier for the postponed editions can modify their particulars from July 6 to 8 for the third edition and from July 9 to 12 for the fourth.

"In order to address the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the number of cities have been increased from 232 to 334. The number of examination centres in every shift will also be increased from 660 to 828," said Sadhana Parashar, Senior Director, NTA.

"The total number of candidates who have already registered for April session is 6.80 lakh and for May session is 6.09 lakh," she added.

JEE-Mains for admission to engineering colleges is being conducted four times a year from the coronavirus-hit current academic session to offer flexibility to students and a chance to improve their scores.

The first phase in February was followed by the second phase in March, while the next phases were scheduled for April and May.

But those were postponed after a spike in the number of cases of coronavirus during the second wave of the pandemic.

The JEE-Advanced exam, which is conducted for admission to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) was also postponed. The exam was scheduled on July 3.