National Medical Commission approves 6,850 new MBBS seats for 2025-26

New Delhi: India’s apex medical education regulator has approved a gross addition of 6,850 MBBS seats for the 2025-26 academic year, potentially boosting the intake for the highly-coveted undergraduate medical degree programme across the country to 123,700.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has also put on hold about 2,000 seats across the country due to non-compliance of certain norms, and colleges have been given an opportunity to plug the gaps to unlock those seats, government officials aware of the matter said on the condition of anonymity.

This significant increase in the MBBS (bachelor of medicine, bachelor of surgery) seats by the NMC will improve admission prospects for the over 12.3 lakh students who qualified the NEET-UG 2025 exam. These new seats have been allocated to both new and existing government and private medical colleges, according to the government officials cited earlier and documents seen by Mint.

NEET-UG stands for National Eligibility Entrance Test-Undergraduate, and is conducted by the National Testing Agency for admission to undergraduate medical programmes, including at New Delhi’s prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences. The NEET counselling is still ongoing and the admission process is still on.

The NMC data, seen by Mint, on MBBS seat Matrix for 2025-26 shows a significant expansion in medical education infrastructure. The document showed a total of 6,850 new seats have been granted for the current academic year.

These new seats are allocated among 13 new government colleges with a total of 1,050 seats, and 32 existing government colleges with 1,080 additional seats. For the private sector (including trusts and societies), there were 10 new colleges approved with 1,200 seats, and 28 existing colleges that received 1,515 additional seats.

Queries sent to the health ministry remained unanswered till press time.

Seat allocations across states

New government medical colleges have been approved in states like Kerala (Government Medical College in Kasaragod, 50 seats) and Uttar Pradesh (ESIC Medical College, Noida, 50 seats).

Similarly, new private colleges, such as Anna Gowri Medical College and Hospital in Andhra Pradesh (100 seats) and Balvir Singh Tomar Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Rajasthan (150 seats) have also been approved.

In addition, a number of existing colleges were granted permission to increase their intake. Notable examples include Assam Medical College, which increased its seats from 200 to 250, and Madhubani Medical College in Bihar, which added 100 seats, raising its capacity to 250.

Regulatory oversight and impact on costs

“This increase is an important move by the government to meet the growing demand for healthcare professionals and improve the quality of medical education by providing more opportunities for clinical practice and training. The NMC, as the primary regulatory authority, ensures the quality of medical education,” said a senior government official familiar with the matter.

“For students, this expansion is a major relief, as it offers a more accessible and affordable way to build a medical career in India,” the official added.

While the NMC sets guidelines for fees, stipulating that up to 50% of seats in private institutions and deemed universities must be priced on par with government medical colleges in the same state, fees remain high. The Economic Survey 2024-25 reported that the cost of an MBBS degree in the private sector can range from ₹60 lakh to over ₹1 crore, which holds 48% of the total MBBS seats.

Dr. Aashish Chaudhry, managing director at Aakash Healthcare, said that there is a shortage of doctors in India and a large number of people who still aspire to become one. “Increasing the number of seats will certainly help close this gap and strengthen the medical system across the country,” he said.

Another government official noted that the seat increase was granted only after “thorough vigilance and scrutiny.” “If some colleges applied for 100 seats, only 50 seats were allotted. Strictness has increased,” the official said, emphasising that the government is devising measures to attract good faculty members.

Dr. Dilip Bhanushali, national president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), representing around 3.5 lakh member doctors in India, expressed a different view. He said that “increasing the number of seats will not work to strengthen medical education. India needs good medical education infrastructure, and more skilled faculties in the colleges.” He also raised concern on key posts within the NMC have not yet been filled despite several requests.