NMC adds over 13,000 MBBS seats, total intake tops 1.4 lakh
The National Medical Commission has approved over 13,000 new MBBS seats for the 2026-27 academic year, bringing the total intake to over 140,000. The expansion is largely driven by the private sector, with significant seat increases across several Indian states.
Why it matters
Increasing medical seat capacity is critical for addressing healthcare workforce shortages and meeting the rising demand for medical education in India.
NEW DELHI: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has approved 13,186 additional MBBS seats for the 2026-27 academic year, taking the total approved undergraduate medical intake to 1,40,214 seats across 836 medical colleges, excluding seats at the Institutes of National Importance (INIs).The updated seat matrix, as on September 1, incorporates permissions for new medical colleges and increases in the annual intake of existing medical colleges.The expansion comes as NEET-UG counselling for the 2026-27 MBBS batch is under way, with the counselling schedule pushing back the start of the academic session and subsequent rounds, including the stray vacancy round, expected to continue into Oct.The increase is heavily driven by the private sector, which accounts for 10,400 of the 13,186 additional seats, or nearly 79%, while govt medical colleges have added 2,786 seats.
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