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India Expands Medical Education
10,000+ New Medical Seats Approved
Posted On:
27 SEP 2025 11:30AM by PIB Delhi
Key Takeaways
- On September 24, 2025, during a Cabinet meeting, 10,023 new medical seats were approved with an investment of Rs. 15,034 crore, as part of the goal to create 75,000 medical seats
- Medical colleges doubled to 808 in 2025-26 from 387 in 2013-14, with undergraduate seats up 141% and postgraduate seats up 144%
- New 2025 regulations allow experienced government specialists to become professors without mandatory residency requirements
- Initiative specifically targets underserved communities while positioning India as a global hub for affordable healthcare
Introduction
India, with a population of 1.4 billion, faces the challenge of ensuring universal health coverage. Various people living in remote tribal areas and villages lack access to quality healthcare due to an insufficient number of trained doctors and specialists.
Recognising this critical gap, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has embarked on an unprecedented expansion of medical education infrastructure. On September 24, 2025, the Union Cabinet approved a landmark initiative to add over 10,000 new medical seats across existing government colleges and hospitals, representing a strategic investment of Rs. 15,034 crore over four years. This ambitious move is part of a broader vision to create 75,000 additional medical seats within the next five years.
“Approval of Phase-III of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme will add significant PG and UG medical seats. This will improve our healthcare system and enhance medical education infrastructure. It will ensure that every part of India has availability of skilled doctors.”
– Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a post on X, September 24, 2025
The country has significantly expanded its medical infrastructure over the past decade, yet the demand continues to outpace supply.
Expansion of Medical Seats
Universal Health Coverage for 1.4 billion people depends on accessible and quality healthcare and a skilled and available workforce.
To make quality healthcare accessible to all —particularly the rural, tribal and hard-to-reach communities — the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Modi approved an additional 5,000 post-graduate and 5,023 undergraduate medical seats in existing government colleges and hospitals by 2028-29.
The total investment for this expansion is Rs. 15,034 crore, covering the period from 2025-26 to 2028-29. Of this, 68.5%, amounting to Rs. 10,303.20 crore will be funded by the Union government, while the remaining Rs. 4,731.30 crore will be contributed by the states. The investment per seat stands at Rs. 1.5 crore.
Prime Minister Modi envisions 75,000 additional medical seats in the next five years, and this new approval made on September 24, 2025, is a step towards that goal.
Benefits and Impact
Underserved communities will benefit from the addition of skilled medical workforce, particularly of specialists. Using the existing infrastructure is cost-effective and promotes balanced regional distribution of the workforce.
Other benefits and impacts are:
- Aspiring medical students will get more opportunities to pursue a medical education in India.
- The quality of medical education will be enhanced and will meet global standards.
- With more doctors and specialists, India can become a prime destination for providing affordable healthcare and boost foreign exchange.
- Underserved rural and remote areas will get accessible healthcare.
- New direct and indirect jobs will get added (doctors, faculty, paramedical staff, researchers, administrators and support services).
- India’s socio-economic development will strengthen with improved healthcare access.
- Healthcare infrastructure will be equitably distributed across the states and union territories.
India’s Flourishing Medical Infrastructure
India has the highest number of medical colleges (808) and has been expanding its medical educational infrastructure for years.
There are 1,23,700 MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) seats today. In the last decade, 69,352 seats were added, a growth of 127%. During this period 43,041 post-graduate seats were added, a growth of 143%.
22 new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) were approved under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, which aims to make affordable and reliable tertiary healthcare accessible to all people and regions and improve the quality of medical education in the country.
To facilitate the addition of new faculty, the National Medical Commission notified the Medical Institution (Qualifications of Faculty) Regulations, 2025 in July.
These regulations are designed to widen the pool of eligible faculty, facilitate the expansion of undergraduate (MBBS) and postgraduate (MD/MS) seats in medical colleges across India and to meet the goal of 75,000 new medical seats over the next five years.
Some key reforms introduced by the new regulations are:
- Non-teaching government hospitals with 220+ beds can now be designated as teaching institutions.
- Existing specialists with 10 years of experience can be appointed as Associate Professors, and those with 2 years can be appointed as Assistant Professors—without the mandatory Senior Residency— provided they complete the Basic Course in Biomedical Research (BCBR) within two years.
- Senior Consultants with three years of teaching experience in NBEMS-recognised government medical institutions are eligible for the post of Professor.
- New government medical colleges are now permitted to start UG and PG courses simultaneously, expediting the production of healthcare professionals and teaching faculty.
- In addition to Anatomy, Physiology, and Biochemistry, departments of Microbiology and Pharmacology can now appoint faculty with MSc-PhD qualifications.
- Faculty with super specialty qualifications currently working in broad specialty departments can be formally designated as faculty in their corresponding super specialty departments.
Conclusion
The recent approval of 10,023 additional medical seats is another step towards India achieving universal healthcare, and it builds on the country’s various initiatives in the past decade. It demonstrates the Government of India’s commitment to addressing the critical shortage of healthcare professionals, particularly in underserved rural and tribal communities, thereby turning India into a global medical hub.
The ripple effects will be profound; enhanced medical education standards, increased employment opportunities across healthcare sectors, and most importantly, improved health outcomes for crores of citizens who have historically lacked access to quality medical care.
References
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