10,023 new medical seats cleared; cost per seat raised to Rs 1.5 crore | India News
New Delhi: In a major push to expand India’s medical workforce, the Center has approved addition of 10,023 new medical seats across government institutions – including 5,000 postgraduate seats and 5,023 MBBS seats – in what is seen as a significant capacity increase.Informing Parliament, Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda said that the third phase of the centrally sponsored scheme has been cleared to strengthen and upgrade existing state and central government medical colleges, independent postgraduate institutes and government hospitals.The expansion will be implemented from 2025-26 to 2028-29, with the cost limit raised to ₹1.50 crore per seat, reflecting rising infrastructure and equipment costs.Under the approved plan, 5,000 additional postgraduate seats will be created to meet the shortage of specialists, while the scheme for upgradation of government medical colleges has been extended to facilitate 5,023 new MBBS seats.States and Union Territories have been asked to submit detailed project reports with gap analysis. The guidelines direct them to give priority to institutions in underdeveloped and rural areas and to focus on major broad specialties while offering new seats.Along with seat expansion, regulatory reforms have been introduced to facilitate growth.The National Medical Commission updated education and faculty regulations, expanded eligibility rules for teachers, and recognized more hospitals as teaching institutions to aid expansion.The Center said the measures are aimed at increasing access to medical education, improving regional equity and strengthening the country’s healthcare workforce pipeline.With the demand for medical seats exceeding availability every year, the addition of over 10,000 seats is expected to significantly impact admission capacity in the coming academic cycles.
