Representative image of a stethoscope
Credit: iStock Photo
Bengaluru: For the current academic year, Karnataka has received the highest number of medical seats compared to other states across the country.
The state has received 1,200 more seats for MBBS courses this year.
This includes both government and private colleges with a total of 13,595 seats, as against the 12,395 received in the 2024-25 academic year.
This year, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has sanctioned a total of 5,794 medical seats. In this, 1,000 seats were sanctioned for Karnataka.
Though the NMC had rejected the enhancement of seats for government medical colleges in the state, citing a lack of basic infrastructure, it approved and released most of the enhancements of seats sought by the colleges in September second week.
While 4,894 seats were sanctioned for 790 medical colleges in other states across the country, 1,000 seats were for 72 colleges in Karnataka.
The NMC has also sanctioned a new private medical college for the state with an intake of 100.
The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has added all the additional seats in the second round of counselling. It has completed two rounds and the process for the mop-up round seat allotment is on.
As the NMC has announced plans to provide 75,000 additional medical seats across the country by 2029, the Karnataka government is aiming to secure 1,000 more seats
during the 2026-27 academic year.
Speaking to DH, Medical Education Minister Dr Sharan Prakash Patil said that the government will apply for new colleges in Ramanagara and Bagalkot.
“We will try to improve facilities and increase the number of seats next year in the existing colleges. We will also apply for new colleges in Ramanagara and Bagalkot. Ramanagara is almost ready since we have a district hospital there, and for Bagalkot, the cabinet recently approved the project with Rs 450 crore,” the minister added.
He also said that the government is working to establish colleges in Kolar and Tumakuru, proposed by the previous government under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
“For Kanakapura as well, we will try, and the proposal will be placed before the cabinet soon. We will seek approval for Kanakapura, and if successful, there will be at least 100 more seats available,” he said.