New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the Union Budget 2025-26 in Parliament, announced that the government will add 10,000 new medical seats in the next year. She also shared the long-term goal of adding 75,000 more seats across medical colleges in the next five years.
She highlighted that in the past 10 years, the government has increased medical seats by 130%, adding around 1.1 lakh undergraduate and postgraduate seats. This is her eighth consecutive budget presentation.
The number of medical colleges in India has also gone up significantly. In 2024-25, India has 766 medical colleges, an 8.07% rise from 706 in 2023-24. This is almost double the number of colleges from 2013-14, when there were only 387. Of these, 423 are government-run, and 343 are private.
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Massive Growth in Medical Seats:
- MBBS Seats:
MBBS seats have increased by 6.3%, from 1,08,940 in 2023-24 to 1,15,812 in 2024-25. Over the past 10 years, the number of MBBS seats has grown by 125%. - Postgraduate (PG) Seats:
PG medical seats have increased by 5.92%, from 69,024 in 2023-24 to 73,111 in 2024-25. This marks a 127% growth since 2013-14.
Union Health Minister JP Nadda, in his 100-day government review last year, confirmed that expanding medical education is a top priority. He said that increasing the number of medical colleges and seats will help meet the growing demand for doctors across the country.
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This announcement aligns with earlier government commitments. In October 2024, Union Home Minister Amit Shah shared plans to add 75,000 new medical seats across India to meet rising healthcare demands. He made this statement while inaugurating a hospital in Gujarat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also supported this vision during his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2024. He pointed out that 25,000 Indian students go abroad for medical education every year. To tackle this, the government aims to add 75,000 medical seats within five years.
Public Health Spending on the Rise:
The Economic Survey 2024-25 highlighted that the government’s share in total health spending rose from 29% in FY15 to 48% in FY22. The total health expenditure in FY22 was ₹9.04 lakh crore, making up 3.8% of India’s GDP. Of this, ₹7.89 lakh crore went towards current healthcare services, while ₹1.14 lakh crore was used for capital investments like building hospitals and colleges.
Why This Matters:
The government is investing heavily in healthcare education to address the shortage of doctors, reduce dependency on foreign universities, and improve access to quality medical services across the country. This expansion of seats and colleges is expected to make medical education more accessible and strengthen India’s healthcare system in the long run.
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