When you are getting admission to engineering colleges through entrance exam or counselling, then you don't need to pay any donations. In that case, the course fee is also less compared to those who are getting through management quota. Admission to most of the colleges of TamilNadu offer admission on the basis of TNEA Counselling and the entire course fee ranges around 1.5 to 3 lakhs. However, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, Government College of Technology, Coimbatore etc have comparatively less fees. You can check this link for all fee related details of all engineering colleges of TN- http://engineering.careers360.com/colleges/list-of-be-btech-colleges-in-tamil-nadu