The Union government has established 118 medical colleges across India over the past two years; the Union health ministry informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday during the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament.
Responding to a question by MP Anupriya Patel, the ministry said 74 colleges were approved in AY 2024–25 and 44 in AY 2025–26, based on clearances granted by the National Medical Commission (NMC).
According to the state-wise data shared in the written reply, Uttar Pradesh received the highest number of new medical colleges, followed by Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
State/UT-wise Medical College Count (2024–25 vs 2025–26)
(As per Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 268, answered on 2 December 2025)
| State/UT | Total Colleges (2024–25) | Total Colleges (2025–26) (as on 20.11.2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh | 1 | 1 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 0 | 1 |
| Delhi | 0 | 1 |
| Jharkhand | 0 | 1 |
| Haryana | 0 | 2 |
| Assam | 1 | 2 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 4 | 4 |
| Maharashtra | 12 | 5 |
| Orissa / Odisha | 2 | 2 |
| Rajasthan | 8 | 6 |
| Tamil Nadu | 3 | 1 |
| Telangana | 9 | 1 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 18 | 3 |
| Uttarakhand | 2 | 0 |
| Bihar | 1 | 3 |
| Chhattisgarh | 2 | 0 |
| Gujarat | 1 | 2 |
| Karnataka | 3 | 1 |
| Kerala | 1 | 3 |
| Meghalaya | 1 | 1 |
| Punjab | 1 | 1 |
| Tripura | 1 | 0 |
| West Bengal | 3 | 3 |
| Total | 74 | 44 |
The ministry added that the expansion is part of the government’s broader push to strengthen medical education and enhance healthcare availability across the country.
Join NEET News 2025 In a separate written reply, Union Health Minister J P Nadda informed the Rajya Sabha that India’s doctor-population ratio stands at 1:811, based on the assumption that 80% of registered practitioners in both allopathic and AYUSH systems are currently available for service.
India has 13,88,185 registered allopathic doctors and 7,51,768 AYUSH practitioners, he said. Nadda also highlighted a significant expansion in medical education infrastructure, noting that the number of medical colleges has increased from 387 in 2014 to 818 at present, while UG seats have more than doubled from 51,348 to 1,28,875 and PG seats have risen from 31,185 to 82,059.
Looking ahead, the government has outlined a major expansion of medical education infrastructure. On September 24, the Union Cabinet approved Phase-III of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme aimed at strengthening and upgrading state and central government medical colleges, along with standalone PG institutes.
The new phase to be implemented from 2025–26 to 2028–29 targets the creation of 5,000 postgraduate seats and 5,023 MBBS seats, with an increased cost ceiling of ₹1.50 crore per seat. Nadda also detailed several initiatives designed to improve the availability of doctors in underserved regions.
Under the centrally sponsored scheme for establishing new medical colleges attached to district hospitals, 137 out of 157 approved colleges are already functional.
Additionally, the newly introduced Family Adoption Programme (FAP) has been integrated into the MBBS curriculum, allowing medical colleges to adopt villages and enabling MBBS students to adopt families.
Students engage in regular follow-ups on vaccination, nutrition monitoring, menstrual hygiene, IFA supplementation, healthy lifestyle practices, and promoting awareness of government health schemes.
