4 min readNew DelhiAug 7, 2026 03:26 PM IST
India currently has 86,360 postgraduate medical seats, including seats approved by the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.
The Centre said it has also approved Phase-III of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme to strengthen and upgrade existing state and central government medical colleges, standalone postgraduate institutes and government hospitals. The scheme aims to add 5,000 postgraduate medical seats between the financial years 2025-26 and 2028-29, with an enhanced cost ceiling of Rs 1.50 crore per seat.
The information was shared by Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda in response to a starred question by MP Km Sudha R on the expansion of postgraduate medical seats.
According to the state and Union Territory-wise data for the academic year 2026-27, Karnataka has the highest number of postgraduate medical seats at 10,092, including 2,805 government and 7,287 private seats. Maharashtra follows with 9,216 seats, comprising 4,277 government and 4,939 private seats, while Tamil Nadu has 8,023 seats, including 3,030 government and 4,993 private seats.
Uttar Pradesh has 7,437 postgraduate medical seats, including 3,568 in government institutions and 3,869 in private institutions. Telangana has 5,248 seats, while Andhra Pradesh has 4,782.
The government said the NMC has put in place a regulatory framework under the Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations (PGMER), 2023 and Post Graduate Minimum Standards Requirement, 2024, for establishing new postgraduate courses and increasing seats in existing courses.
Proposals submitted by medical colleges and institutions are considered based on prescribed requirements relating to faculty, infrastructure and clinical material, among other criteria.
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Further, the minister answered that the NBEMS has also taken several measures to increase the availability of postgraduate medical seats. These include easing accreditation criteria without compromising the quality of teaching and training, introducing new postgraduate courses, implementing a Joint Accreditation Scheme, encouraging district hospitals to seek accreditation for NBEMS postgraduate courses and undertaking outreach programmes with state governments, public sector undertakings and other stakeholders.
PG seats approved since 2014-15
The government also provided year-wise data on postgraduate seats approved by the NMC and NBEMS since 2014-15.
In 2014-15, 415 seats were approved by the NMC and 612 by the NBEMS. The combined approvals increased substantially in subsequent years, with 4,965 NMC seats and 624 NBEMS seats approved in 2017-18.
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The highest number of NMC-approved seats in the period covered was recorded in 2025-26, when 9,084 seats were approved. In the same year, NBEMS approved 2,009 seats.
For 2024-25, the NMC approved 4,188 seats, and NBEMS approved 1,667 seats. In 2023-24, the corresponding figures were 4,713 and 1,209, respectively.
No proposal to convert all diploma seats into DNB degree seats
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The government also clarified that there is currently no proposal under consideration by the NBEMS to convert all Diploma seats into full-fledged postgraduate medical degree (DNB) seats. On fees, the government said fixation of fees for medical courses, including postgraduate courses, falls under the respective state and Union Territory governments and varies across states.
The NMC had issued guidelines in February 2022 for determining fees and other charges for 50 per cent of seats in private medical institutions and deemed universities. However, these guidelines have been challenged in various courts and are currently sub judice.
For NBEMS programmes, including Diplomate of National Board (DNB), Doctorate of National Board (DrNB), Fellowship of National Board (FNB) and Diploma courses, fees are centrally regulated and uniform across the country. The annual course fee for these programmes is Rs 1.25 lakh.