4-seat limit for new PG courses, intake increase in non-govt medical colleges: NMC
New Delhi: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has stated that a maximum of four seats will be allowed in non-government medical colleges when they apply to start a new postgraduate medical course or increase in annual intake.
"While considering fresh cases for starting a new PG course or increase of annual intake, maximum of 4 seats will be permitted at a non-government medical college/institution". This was mentioned by the Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) of the Commission in the recently released revised Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations (PGMSR) 2023.
With this, private medical colleges will not be allowed to add more than four seats while considering fresh cases for starting a new PG course and for the increase of annual intake.
The Commission asked all medical colleges and institutions across the country to comply with the updated rules with immediate effect.
Also read- NMC amends Minimum Standard Requirements for running PG medical courses, here are key takeaways
Issuing a public notice on 11.03.2026, the PGMEB informed that the standards for running postgraduate medical courses have now been amended as of February 20, 2026. These norms define the minimum requirements that institutions must meet to start and run PG medical programmes in the country.
NMC invites online applications every year from medical colleges/institutions across the country for the establishment of new medical colleges and for the increase of UG and PG seats. Further, Letter of Permission (LoP) or Letter of Disapproval (LoD) is issued after following due process of scrutiny and assessment, in accordance with the provisions of the Establishment of Medical Institutions, Assessment and Rating Regulations, 2023, Minimum Standard Requirement for Undergraduate courses (UGMSR), 2023, the Minimum Standard Requirement for Postgraduate courses (PGMSR), 2023, and other relevant norms and guidelines issued by the NMC from time to time.
As per Regulation 3.4 of the Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023, the criteria for running Post-Graduate courses are called Post-Graduate Minimum Standards of Requirements, 2023 (PGMSR-2023).
The first version of PGMSR-2023 was issued by the National Medical Commission on 16 January, 2024 through a Public Notice. Subsequently, the standards were revised and updated through amendments issued on 23 August, 2024 and 14 January, 2025. These amendments were carried out to update or clarify certain requirements related to postgraduate medical education.
Now, based on the need for further updates, the PGMEB has issued another amendment to PGMSR-2023. "These latest amendments will come into force immediately, and all concerned institutions are required to follow the updated requirements from that date onwards," mentioned the notice.
Medical Dialogues had reported that altogether 1,28,976 MBBS, 85,020 PG seats and 818 medical colleges are available in the country as per the National Medical Commission (NMC), the Health Ministry told the Parliament while citing NMC data and regulations.
Further, under CSS schemes, 4977 additional MBBS seats and 8058 additional PG seats have been approved in medical colleges across the country, Union Health Minister Smt Anupriya Patel informed the Rajya Sabha.
