**Executive Summary**
This document is the answer provided by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2447, scheduled for February 13, 2026, concerning the increase in MBBS and MD/MS seats. It reports an increase in medical seats between the academic years 2020-21 and 2025-26 and the measures taken to maintain the quality of medical education.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Increase in Medical Seats (2020-2026):**
* There has been an increase of 48,563 MBBS seats and 29,080 PG seats in the country.
* The government has approved the addition of 10,023 medical seats under Centrally Sponsored Schemes across government colleges from the financial year 2025-26 to 2028-29.
* **Impact on Healthcare Workforce:**
* The expansion of medical seats helps to reduce the gap in the healthcare workforce, especially in underserved regions.
* Increased seats and improved infrastructure and faculty enhance accessibility to domestic medical education for Indian students.
* **Quality Assurance of Medical Education:**
* The National Medical Commission (NMC) has notified regulations to maintain the quality of medical education.
* Regulations include:
* Minimum Standards Requirement (MSR)
* Graduate Medical Education Regulations (GMER), 2023
* Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations, 2023 (MSMER-2023)
* Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) Curriculum Guidelines 2024
* These regulations aim to uphold the integrity and quality of medical education and training nationwide.
**Impact Analysis**
**Prospective Medical Students**
* **Impact:** Increased accessibility to medical education within India.
* **Action Required:** None explicitly stated, but prospective students should consider the increased opportunities for medical education within the country.
**National Medical Commission (NMC)**
* **Impact:** Entrusted with maintaining the quality of medical education, required to enforce and update regulations.
* **Action Required:** Implementation and enforcement of notified regulations (MSR, GMER 2023, MSMER-2023, CBME Curriculum Guidelines 2024).
**Medical Colleges (Government and Private)**
* **Impact:** Potential increase in student intake and a need to adhere to new regulatory standards.
* **Action Required:** Ensure compliance with NMC regulations, including MSR, GMER 2023, MSMER-2023, and CBME Curriculum Guidelines 2024 to maintain the quality of medical education.
**Healthcare Sector / Doctor-Patient Ratio**
* **Impact:** Addresses the shortage of healthcare professionals, particularly in underserved areas.
* **Action Required:** Monitor the doctor-patient ratio across States, including Uttar Pradesh.
Key Entities Referenced
National Medical Commission (NMC): Apex regulatory body responsible for maintaining the quality of medical education in India.
Centrally Sponsored Schemes: Scheme under which the government approved the addition of 10,023 medical seats across government colleges from financial year 2025-26 to 2028-29.
Minimum Standards Requirement (MSR): Regulation notified by NMC to maintain the quality of medical education.
Graduate Medical Education Regulations (GMER), 2023: Regulation notified by NMC to maintain the quality of graduate medical education.
Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations, 2023 (MSMER-2023): Regulation notified by NMC to maintain the quality of medical education.
GOVERNMENT OFINDIA
MINISTRYOFHEALTHAND FAMILYWELFARE
DEPARTMENT OFHEALTHAND FAMILYWELFARE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 2447
TO BE ANSWERED ON13th FEBRUARY2026
ADDITIONALMBBS AND MD/MS SEATS
2447. SHRIJAGDAMBIKAPAL:
Willthe Ministerof HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE be pleasedtostate:
(a) the number of additional MBBS and MD/MS seats approved and filled including the 10,023
newly sanctioned seats and the manner in which these seats were distributed between
Government andprivate medicalcolleges during the last five years, year-wise;
(b) the manner in which the expansion of medical seats impacted each State’s doctor-population
ratio whether assessments or evaluations are available in this regard, especially district-wise in
the Stateof Uttar Pradesh;
(c) whether the increase in domestic medical seats helped reduce students’ dependence on
studying medicineabroadandwhat evidencesupports thistrend inthe country; and
(d) if so, the detailsthereof?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILY
WELFARE
(SMT.ANUPRIYAPATEL)
(a) to(d): As informedby National Medical Commission (NMC), there isanincrease of 48,563
MBBS seats and 29,080 PG seats in the country from Academic Year 2020-21 to 2025-26. The
details of the increase in MBBS and PG seats are at Annexure. Further, the Government has
approved the addition of 10,023 medical seats under Centrally Sponsored Schemes across
governmentcollegesfrom financialyear2025-26 to 2028-29.
The expansion of medical seats reduce the gap in the healthcare workforce, particularly in
underserved region and has a direct bearing on the doctor-population ratio across States,
including Uttar Pradesh. The growing number of medical seats, coupled with improvements in
infrastructure andfaculty, hasmade domestic institutions more accessible toIndianstudents.
NMC , as an apex regulatory body entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining the
quality of medical education has notified various Regulations namely Minimum Standards
Requirement (MSR), Graduate Medical Education Regulations (GMER), 2023, Maintenance of
Standards of Medical Education Regulations, 2023 (MSMER-2023) and Competency-Based
Medical Education (CBME) Curriculum Guidelines 2024 to ensure the adherence to prescribed
standards in medical education. These regulations are designed to uphold the integrity and
qualityof medicaleducationandtraining across the country.
******Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.
2447foranswer on13.02.2026
Annexure
Numberof MBBS seats fromacademicyear 2020-21 to 2025-26
Sr. AcademicYear IncreaseinMBBS seats
No.
1 2020-21 2963
2 2021-22 8790
3 2022-23 7398
4 2023-24 9652
5 2024-25 8641
6 2025-26 11119
Numberof PGseats fromacademicyear 2020-21 to 2025-26
Sr. AcademicYear IncreaseinPG seats
No.
1 2020-21 4983
2 2021-22 4705
3 2022-23 2874
4 2023-24 4713
5 2024-25 4186
6 2025-26 7619