NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu has the highest number of government and private medical colleges in the country, followed by Uttar Pradesh, as per data shared by the Union Health Ministry on Friday.
While Karnataka has 24 government medical colleges, it has the highest number of private colleges, 46 in the country in 2023-24.
The southern state also offers the highest number of undergraduate – 11,745 - and postgraduate seats -6449 - mostly in private medical colleges, as per data shared by the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
In the Lok Sabha, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said Friday that the government has increased the number of medical colleges and subsequently increased MBBS seats.
“There is an increase of 82% in medical colleges from 387 before 2014 to 706 as of now. Further, there is an increase of 112% in MBBS seats from 51,348 before 2014 to 1,08,940; there is also an increase of 127% in PG seats from 31,185 before 2014 to 70,645 as of now,” he said.
He also said that during the last five years, the number of medical colleges has increased from 499 in 2018-19 to 648 in 2022-23 and raised MBBS seats from 70012 seats in 2018-19 to 96077 seats in 2022-23.
The PG seats have also increased from 39583 in 2018-19 to 64059 in 2022-23, he said.
While Tamil Nadu has 38 government medical colleges, it has 36 private medical colleges in 2023-24. Uttar Pradesh has 35 government colleges and 33 private medical colleges.
Maharashtra ranks number three among the states with the most medical colleges in the country. It has 32 government medical colleges and 36 private ones.
Telangana has an equal number of government and private medical colleges at 28 each.
Gujarat has 23 government medical colleges and 17 private ones. It is followed by Andhra Pradesh, which has 18 government colleges and 19 private ones. Kerala has 12 government medical colleges and 21 private ones.
While Karnataka tops in offering the highest number of both UG and PG seats, Tamil Nadu has the second highest of UG seats at 11,650. It is followed by Maharashtra at 10,845, Uttar Pradesh at 9903, Telangana at 8490 and Gujarat at 7150.
However, after Karnataka, the highest number of PG seats are available in Maharashtra at 6074. It is followed by Tamil Nadu at 5134, Uttar Pradesh at 4220, Andhra Pradesh at 3568 and Telangana at 3112.
The Northeastern states are the only states that have very few medical colleges. States like Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya,Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh have only one government medical college each, while Sikkim even doesn't have that. It has only one private medical college. Manipur is the only state in the northeast that boasts three government medical colleges and one private medical college.