Most MBBS Seats in Karnataka, Highest number of Medical Colleges in Tamil Nadu: Health Ministry Gives Break Up in Parliament

New Delhi: Among the 1,12,112 MBBS seats available in 731 colleges across the country, Karnataka has the maximum number of MBBS seats i.e. 12,345 MBBS seats, revealed the data shared by the Union Health Minister Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda before the Lok Sabha.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu has the maximum number of medical colleges i.e. 77 medical colleges followed by Karnataka (which has 73 medical colleges) Uttar Pradesh (which has 72 medical colleges) and Maharashtra (which has 70 medical colleges).

The State/UT wise break-up of the MBBS seats and medical colleges was provided by the Union Health Minister in response to the queries raised by Parliament member Shri Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, who sought the details of the number of medical colleges set up in the country along with the number of seats approved in such colleges during the last five years and the current year.

In a statement, laid down before the Lok Sabha, Nadda provided the State-wise details of medical colleges along with MBBS seats available in the country in 2018-19, 2023-24 and 2024-25 as of now.

As per the data provided by the Health Minister, for the academic year 2024-2025, Karnataka has the maximum number i.e. 12345 MBBS seats available. Tamil Nadu comes second with 11900 MBBS seats available, followed by Maharashtra, which has 10945 MBBS seats. Uttar Pradesh comes fourth with an intake capacity of 10525 MBBS seats.

Apart from these, the data revealed that Andaman & Nicobar Islands has 114 MBBS seats, Andhra Pradesh has 6485 MBBS seats Arunachal Pradesh has 100 MBBS seats, Assam has 1650 MBBS seats, Bihar has 2865 MBBS seats, Chandigarh has 150 MBBS seats and Chhattisgarh has 2205 MBBS seats.

Further, 177 MBBS seats are available in Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, 1497 MBBS seats are available in Delhi, 180 MBBS seats are there in Delhi, 180 MBBS seats are available in Goa, 7150 MBBS seats are available in Gujarat, 2185 MBBS seats are there in Haryana, 920 MBBS seats are available in Himachal Pradesh, and 1339 MBBS seats are available for admission in Jammu & Kashmir.

The data revealed that Jharkhand has 980 MBBS seats, Kerala has 4805 MBBS seats, Madhya Pradesh has 4850 MBBS seats, Manipur has 525 MBBS seats, Meghalaya has 50 MBBS seats, Mizoram and Nagaland have 100 MBBS seats each, Odisha has 2725 MBBS seats, Puducherry has 1830 MBBS seats, Punjab has 1800 MBBS seats, Rajasthan has 5875 MBBS seats, Sikkim has 150 MBBS seats, Telangana has 8490 MBBS seats, Tripura has 425 MBBS seats, Uttarakhand has 1300 and West Bengal has 5375 MBBS seats.

Among the 731 medical colleges, Tamil Nadu has the most i.e. 77 medical colleges, followed by 73 medical colleges in Karnataka, 72 medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh, and 70 medical colleges in Maharashtra. 

Several States/UTs including Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Goa, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim have 1 medical colleges each.

Apart from these, Andhra Pradesh has 37 medical colleges, Assam has 14 medical colleges, Bihar has 22 medical colleges, Chhattisgarh has 16 medical colleges, Delhi has 10 and Gujarat has 40 medical colleges.

Further, there are 15 medical colleges in Haryana, 8 medical colleges in Himachal Pradesh, 12 medical colleges in Jammu & Kashmir, 9 medical colleges in Jharkhand, 34 medical colleges in Kerala, 28 medical colleges in Madhya Pradesh, 4 medical colleges in Manipur, 19 medical colleges in Odisha, 9 medical colleges in Puducherry, 12 medical colleges in Punjab, 37 medical colleges in Rajasthan, 56 medical colleges in Telangana, 3 medical colleges in Tripura, 9 medical colleges in Uttarakhand, and 36 medical colleges in West Bengal.

3200 MBBS seats, 25 Medical Colleges Added this year: 

The data revealed that during the academic year 2018-2019, India had 499 medical colleges with an intake capacity of 70012 and during the academic year 2023-2024, there were 108940 MBBS seats in India in 706 medical colleges.

Therefore, taking note of this year's data, which revealed that India has 731 medical colleges with an intake capacity of 112112 MBBS seats, this year the National Medical Commission (NMC) has approved 3172 MBBS seats and given its nod for 25 new medical colleges.

Meanwhile, Parliament member Shri Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka also sought to know the criteria adopted for setting up new medical colleges in the country and also if the Government had any plans to set up medical colleges in every district in Government and private sectors including the tribal areas particularly in Rayagada, Odisha. He also questioned the Ministry if there were any proposals by the Government to set up more medical colleges in the country.

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 further informed that the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare administers a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for 'Establishment of new Medical Colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals' with preference to underserved areas and aspirational districts, where there is no existing Government or private medical college.

"Under the Scheme, all the envisaged 157 new medical colleges have already been approved in three phases, of which 109 are already functional, the details are at Annexure-II. No proposal was received from State Government of Odisha for establishment of a medical college at Rayagada district. As per the Scheme guidelines, the State Government is the implementing agency and the planning, execution and commissioning of the project is done by the State Governments," he informed. 

The Health Minister also provided the details of the medical colleges approved under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for 'Establishment of new medical colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals'.

As per the data, 58 medical colleges were approved in Phase-I of the scheme, 24 medical colleges were approved in Phase-II, and 75 medical colleges approved in Phase-III of the scheme.

Also Read: 1,08,940 MBBS, 70,645 PG Medical Seats in India, Maximum Medical Colleges in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka offers most seats