NEW DELHI: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has approved 10,650 new MBBS seats and 41 new medical colleges for the academic year 2025-26, officials said. With the addition of the 41 new medical colleges, the total number has gone up to 816.
The move is to align with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to create as many as 75,000 new medical seats in the next five years.
The NMC received 170 applications for expanding undergraduate (UG) seats, comprising 41 from government colleges and 129 from private institutions. A total of 10,650 MBBS seats were given approval.
The increase, officials said, will raise the overall MBBS seat count in the country to 1,37,600 for the 2025-26 academic year. This includes seats in Institutes of National Importance (INI).
For postgraduate (PG) courses, the NMC had received over 3,500 applications for new and renewed seats. With the approval, the total PG seats in the country have gone up to 67,000. The overall increase in both UG and PG seats this year will be approximately 15,000.
In his Independence Day speech, the PM had expressed his dismay and disbelief over the fact that Indian students are forced to seek medical education abroad. He had then announced that his government plans to take a major initiative in this direction by creating 75,000 new medical seats across the country in five years.
Officials said the initiative will significantly augment the undergraduate medical capacity; availability of specialist doctors by creating additional postgraduate seats; and enable introduction of new specialties across government medical institutions.
Moreover, this will strengthen the overall availability of doctors in the country, which will thereby improve access to quality healthcare, especially in underserved areas. Officials said that in the last one decade, India has added over 69,352 new MBBS seats registering a growth of 127%. Similarly, during this period 43,041 PG seats were added showing an impressive growth of 143%.
New colleges approved to match demand, access
In spite of this notable growth in the number of medical seats, in certain regions there is a need to enhance capacities to match the demand, access and affordability of healthcare, and thus, new medical colleges have been approved in areas which are still inaccessible, officials added.
