The number of medical colleges in India has seen a remarkable growth of 102% over the past decade, increasing from 387 in 2013-14 to 780 in 2024-25, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s statement in the Rajya Sabha this week. Similarly, MBBS seats have surged by 130%, rising from 51,348 to 1,18,137 during the same period.
Several states and Union Territories (UTs) that had no medical colleges in 2013-14, such as Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Mizoram, and Nagaland, now each have one medical college. Telangana stands out with a significant leap from zero medical colleges to 65. Meanwhile, Goa and Chandigarh retained their single college while marginally increasing their MBBS seats.
Karnataka, which leads in the number of medical colleges, expanded from 46 to 73. Maharashtra saw an increase from 44 to 80 colleges, while Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest growth, jumping from 30 to 86 colleges.
The availability of MBBS seats has grown correspondingly. Uttar Pradesh increased its capacity from 3,749 to 12,425 seats, Maharashtra from 5,590 to 11,845 seats, and Tamil Nadu from 6,215 to 12,050 seats. Telangana, which previously had no colleges or seats, now offers 9,040 MBBS seats.
Rajasthan witnessed a significant rise, growing from 10 colleges with 1,750 seats in 2013-14 to 43 colleges with 6,475 seats in 2024-25. Madhya Pradesh expanded from 12 colleges (1,700 seats) to 31 colleges (5,200 seats), while Chhattisgarh increased from five colleges (600 seats) to 16 colleges (2,455 seats). Delhi added three more colleges, going from seven to 10, with MBBS seats increasing from 900 to 1,497.