According to data presented before the Lok Sabha by Union Health Minister Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda, Karnataka has the most MBBS seats—12,345—among the 1,12,112 MBBS seats available in 731 colleges across the nation.
With 77 medical colleges, Tamil Nadu leads the other states in terms of the number of medical colleges, followed by Karnataka (73), Uttar Pradesh (72), and Maharashtra (70).
In response to questions from Parliament member Shri Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, who requested information on the number of medical colleges established in the nation as well as the number of seats approved in such colleges during the last five years and the current year, the Union Health Minister provided the State/UT breakdown of MBBS seats and medical colleges.
Nadda presented the Lok Sabha with a statement outlining the medical colleges by State and the number of MBBS seats that are currently available nationwide for the years 2018–19, 2023–24, and 2024–25.
The Health Minister's data indicates that Karnataka would have the greatest number of MBBS seats available for the academic year 2024–2025, which is 12345. After Maharashtra, which has 10945 MBBS seats available, comes Tamil Nadu, with 11900 MBBS seats. With 10525 MBBS seats available for intake, Uttar Pradesh stands in fourth.
In addition, the data showed that Andhra Pradesh has 6485 MBBS seats and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands has 114 MBBS seats. The number of MBBS seats in Arunachal Pradesh is 100, Assam is 1650, Bihar is 2865, Chandigarh is 150, and Chhattisgarh is 2205.
In addition, there are 177 MBBS seats available in Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, 1497 MBBS seats in Delhi, 180 MBBS seats in Delhi, 180 MBBS seats in Goa, 7150 MBBS seats in Gujarat, 2185 MBBS seats in Haryana, 920 MBBS seats in Himachal Pradesh, and 1339 MBBS seats opening up for admission in Jammu & Kashmir.
According to the data, MBBS seats are distributed as follows: Jharkhand has 980, Kerala has 4805, Madhya Pradesh has 4850, Manipur has 525, Meghalaya has 50, Mizoram and Nagaland each have 100, Odisha has 2725, Puducherry has 1830, Punjab has 1800, Rajasthan has 5875, Sikkim has 150, Telangana has 8490, Tripura has 425, Uttarakhand has 1300, and West Bengal has 5375 MBBS seats.
Tamil Nadu has the most number of medical colleges—77—out of the 731 medical colleges. It is followed by Karnataka with 73, Uttar Pradesh with 72, and Maharashtra with 70.
There is one medical college in each of the following states/union territories: Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Goa, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim.
In addition, there are 37 medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh, 14 in Assam, 22 in Bihar, 16 in Chhattisgarh, 10 in Delhi, and 40 in Gujarat.
Furthermore, there are: 15 medical colleges in Haryana, 8 in Himachal Pradesh, 12 in Jammu & Kashmir, 9 in Jharkhand, 34 in Kerala, 28 in Madhya Pradesh, 4 in Manipur, 19 in Odisha, 9 in Puducherry, 12 in Punjab, 37 in Rajasthan, 56 in Telangana, 3 in Tripura, 9 in Uttarakhand, and 36 in West Bengal.
Regarding the NMC's approval of new colleges and/or seat increases, the data for 2024–2025 may differ.
25 Medical Colleges and 3200 MBBS seats Introduced this year:
According to the data, there were 499 medical colleges in India with a 70012 admission capacity in the 2018–2019 academic year, and 706 medical colleges in India had 108940 MBBS seats in the 2023–2024 academic year.
In light of this, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has granted 3172 MBBS seats this year and given its approval for 25 new medical schools. The data from this year showed that India has 731 medical colleges with an admission capacity of 112112 MBBS seats.
Legislator Shri Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka also wanted to know what standards were used for establishing new medical schools across the nation and whether the government intended to establish medical schools in both the public and private sectors in every district, including the tribal areas, especially in Rayagada, Odisha. He also asked the Ministry if it has received any government proposals to establish more medical colleges across the nation.
In response to these queries, the Union Health Minister informed that "As per National Medical Commission (NMC), new medical colleges are set up in the country in accordance with the Regulations/ Guidelines issued by NMC, from time to time."
He added that underprivileged areas and aspirational districts without an existing government or private medical college are given preference when the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare administers the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for "Establishment of new Medical Colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals."
The Centrally Sponsored Scheme for "Establishment of new medical colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals" approved the medical colleges, and the Health Minister gave details of them.
Based on the available data, Phase I of the program approved 58 medical colleges, Phase II approved 24 medical colleges, and Phase III approved 75 medical colleges.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Priyanka Pandey/MSM)