Bihar plans for 10 new medical colleges
Bihar: Emphasising the strengthening of infrastructure and expansion of medical education through at least 10 new medical colleges, Bihar Finance Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav recently presented a budget of Rs 21,270.40 crore for the health sector for the 2026-27 financial year.
While presenting the state budget in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, Yadav said that new government medical colleges are being established in 10 districts of Bihar.
These districts include Madhubani, Vaishali, Siwan, Jamui, Bhojpur, Buxar, Begusarai, Supaul, Munger, and Sitamarhi. Construction work for new medical colleges in these districts is already underway. They will join the recently established medical colleges in Purnea, Bettiah, Samastipur, Madhepura, and Saran (Chapra).
The minister also stated that under the ₹5,400 crore Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) redevelopment project, 1,100 beds have already been made operational. Therefore, the hospital will ultimately have a total capacity of 5,400 beds. In addition, Darbhanga Medical College Hospital is also being upgraded to a 2,500-bed facility at an estimated cost of ₹2,546.41 crore.
Yadav said that continuous government intervention in the health sector has led to significant improvements, resulting in a reduction in infant mortality rate, neonatal mortality rate, and under-five mortality rate in Bihar, and the state is now performing better than the national average.
In addition, to improve access to specialised care in rural areas, all community health centres at the block level will be developed into speciality hospitals, with new positions created for orthopaedics, ophthalmology, and ENT specialists. Furthermore, all 36 district hospitals in the state will be upgraded to super-speciality facilities, according to an HT report.
The budget also emphasised the progress of several key institutions, including a 100-bed hospital for head, neck, and oral cancer patients in Gangwara, Darbhanga, and a 100-bed palliative care hospital under construction in Muzaffarpur. Also, the 400-bed Lok Nayak Jay Prakash Narayan Super-Speciality Orthopaedic Hospital is in its final stages of development.
Apart from this, to promote indigenous systems of medicine, the state is establishing Ayurvedic colleges in Darbhanga and Begusarai, a homeopathic college in Muzaffarpur, and a Tibbi (Unani) college in Patna. An eye super-specialty center is also being developed in Kankarbagh, Patna, under a public-private partnership with Shankar Eye Foundation India, Coimbatore.
