NMC approves 25 new medical colleges, 9,911 MBBS seats for 2026-27
New Delhi: In a major boost for medical education ahead of the NEET UG 2026 counselling process, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has approved 25 new medical colleges across the country for the 2026-27 academic session.
Along with the new colleges, the Commission has also approved 9,911 additional MBBS seats and renewed 1,27,028 MBBS seats, taking the overall MBBS seat count to 1,36,939.
With the latest approvals, India now has 823 medical colleges, including 441 government and 382 private institutions, excluding INIs.
Medical Dialogues recently reported that altogether 1,36,939 MBBS seats, excluding Institutes of National Importance (INIs), are available across 823 medical colleges in India for the 2026-27 academic session, as per the data released by the National Medical Commission (NMC).
According to the final seat matrix issued by the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB), 1,27,028 MBBS seats have been renewed, while 9,911 seats have been added through approved intake increases and newly established medical colleges, taking the overall MBBS seat count to 1,36,939.
Issuing a public notice issued on July 14, 2026, MARB stated that the seat matrix includes approvals granted for the establishment of new MBBS colleges as well as increases in the intake capacity of existing medical colleges for the academic year 2026-27.
The Board has directed all private medical colleges that have received approval for a new college or an increase in MBBS seats to submit the required Electronic Bank Guarantee (E-Bank Guarantee) to MARB within seven days of the public notice. The Letter of Permission (LoP) will be issued only after the bank guarantee is received and found satisfactory.
As per NMC data, the newly approved 25 colleges include seven government medical colleges and 18 private medical colleges. These 25 institutions together will offer 2,400 MBBS seats, with 400 seats in the government colleges and 2,000 seats in the private colleges.
Out of the 9,911 new MBBS seats, 2,111 seats have been added in government medical colleges, while 7,800 seats have been approved in private medical colleges
Among the states, Karnataka has the highest number of MBBS seats with 15,395, followed by Uttar Pradesh (14,000), Tamil Nadu (13,999), Maharashtra (13,099) and Telangana (10,250).
In terms of newly approved seats, Karnataka received the highest increase with 1,300 additional seats, followed by Tamil Nadu (950), Rajasthan (900), West Bengal (825), Uttar Pradesh (800), Telangana (810) and Bihar (740).
