Summary
This expansion represents a 10% single-year increase over the previous year’s intake of around 1.92 lakh students in 2024-25, marking an unprecedented acceleration in the country’s medical education infrastructure
The data was revealed by Anupriya Patel, Minister of State for Health, in response to questions from Rajya Sabha members Javed Ali Khan (SP) and M Thambidurai (AIADMK)
The National Medical Commission (NMC) has approved 777 new postgraduate (PG) medical seats after initial rejection, taking the total additional medical training capacity for the current academic year to 20,098 new undergraduate (UG) and PG seats, according to data shared by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
This expansion represents a 10% single-year increase over the previous year’s intake of around 1.92 lakh students in 2024-25, marking an unprecedented acceleration in the country’s medical education infrastructure.
The data was revealed by Anupriya Patel, Minister of State for Health, in response to questions from Rajya Sabha members Javed Ali Khan (SP) and M Thambidurai (AIADMK).
For PG medical courses, 8,416 new seats were approved for 2025-26, reflecting an 11.33% growth over 74,306 seats in 2024-25. Notably, in the past four years, the number of new PG seats had never crossed 5,000 in a single year.
State-wise Highlights:
- Karnataka: 1,328 new PG seats – highest in the country
- Uttar Pradesh: 1,034 seats
- Tamil Nadu: 905 seats
In MBBS programs, the UG intake increased by 11,682 seats, the highest ever in absolute terms, bringing the total UG seats to 1,29,872. The ministry also noted that several colleges received approval for new PG seats after an initial denial by the NMC.
This expansion signals a significant boost in India’s healthcare training capacity, aiming to meet the growing demand for medical professionals nationwide.
Last updated on 11 Feb 2026
