Rs 1.4 crore for MBBS degree! DY Patil Medical College offers India's costliest MBBS programme

Mumbai: D Y Patil Medical College based in Navi-Mumbai is offering the costliest MBBS programme in the country. With Rs 30.5 lakh annual fees for pursuing the MBBS course, the total course fees including the hostel charges of the students is more than Rs 1.35 crore.

Apart from this, the institute also charges an additional one-time university fee of Rs 2.8 lakh. The students need to pay this at the time of admission.

However, D Y Patil Medical College is not the only deemed medical institute in the country charging a huge fees for the 4.5-year-long MBBS course. Several deemed institutes, based in Tamil Nadu, charge more than Rs 25 lakh a year.

At least eight medical institutes in Tamil Nadu, mainly based in Chennai charge Rs 25 lakh and above annual fees from the students. The fee data from the college and admission portals show that the deemed medical universities based in Delhi and other northern regions charge comparatively cheaper fees. However, Ghaziabad -based Santosh Medical College is an exception where the fees, including the hostel charges, cost Rs 26 lakh, adds TOI.

The students need to pay Rs. 28.1 lakh at Chennai-based Sri Ramachandra Medical College, and Rs 27.2 lakh annual fees at SRM Medical College. Even though these charges include the annual tuition and hostel fees, some of the college also ask additional fees from the students at the time of admission under various heads.

Also Read: NMC Fee Order: Centre Seeks Two weeks' time to submit counter affidavit

As per the latest media report by the Times of India, three medical colleges based in Maharashtra are among the top 5 most expensive deemed medical colleges in India. These institutes charge more than Rs 25 lakh annual fees from the MBBS students.

The sister campus of D Y Patil medical college in Pune charges Rs 29.6 lakh a year and the Pune-based Bhartiya Vidyapeeth Medical College charge Rs 26.8 lakh annual fees.

Apart from the tuition fees and hostel fees, some additional fees that the students need to pay include university fee, refundable deposits and caution money which cost the students several lakhs of rupees. Enrolling for the hostel facilities is mandatory at some institutes.

While some of the colleges keep the annual tuition fees at a constant for the whole course, the fees increase by 2-3% on annual basis at some other institutes. The fee hike gets implemented while considering the factor of inflation.

On the one hand, the deemed institutes charge crores of rupees for the MBBS course; on the other, the students pursuing their MBBS course in a government medical college in Maharashtra need to pay only Rs 1.3 lakh annual fees. Even the private medical colleges, where the Fee Regulating Authority (FRA) regulates the fees, the annual charges for the MBBS course vary from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 16 lakh.

However, this excludes accommodation, and the charges such as deposits. The annual fees at the government medical colleges do not exceed Rs 50,000 at several states in the country.

Commenting on the matter, parent representative Sudha Shenoy pointed out that the fees started increasing after NEET was reintroduced in 2016 and the counselling process was made centralised. She further added that the government has still not ensured the implementation of fee gazette issued last year and mentioned that most of the deemed colleges in Maharashtra charge more than Rs 20 lakh annual fees, which further increase annually.

Speaking to TOI, an official from Sri Ramachandra Medical College said, "The government spends around Rs 1 crore for the complete course of one student. With no subsidy and world-class facilities, the fees in deemed colleges are bound to be similar. The hospital attached to the college runs free medical services in specialty and super-specialty areas for a set number of patients. These expenses are also borne by the colleges." The official further added that the fees of deemed colleges in in any given region (Chennai, in this case) are usually in the same range.

 "The teaching, library facilities, our simulation laboratories, and the world-class infrastructure, all of them require a lot of investment. Our AC hostels are also equipped with 24/7 WiFi facilities. Our hostel fees are similar to what other private and deemed universities in Navi Mumbai charge," said an official from D Y Patil University. He added that the college spends Rs 3-4 crore per month for subsidised treatment at hospitals.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that last year, the National Medical Commission (NMC) issued a direction to all the private medical colleges in the country for charging fees at par with the government institutes for 50 per cent of the total seats.

Issuing an Office Memorandum back in February 2022, NMC had mentioned, "After extensive consultations, it has been decided that the fee of the 50 per cent seats in the private medical colleges and deemed universities should be at par with the fee in the government medical colleges of that particular State and UT. The benefit of this fee structure would be first made available to those candidates who have availed government quota seats, but are limited to the extent of 50 per cent of the total sanctioned strength of the respective medical college/deemed university."

"However, if the government quota seats are less than 50 per cent of total sanctioned seats, the remaining candidates would avail the benefit of a fee equivalent to the government medical college fees, based purely on the merit," the Commission had added.

However, challenging the NMC fee order, several private medical colleges approached the High Courts and the matter is also pending before the Supreme Court.