The government’s decision to add 10,000 medical seats next year and 75,000 over the next five years has been widely welcomed by education experts, who say it will help reduce the outflow of Indian students seeking medical education abroad.

The move is part of broader education sector reforms in the Union Budget 2025-26, which also includes expanding IIT infrastructure to accommodate 6,500 more students and setting up a ₹500 crore Centre of Excellence in AI for Education.

Prateek Maheshwari, Co-Founder of PhysicsWallah (PW) and Chairman of the India Edtech Consortium (IEC), noted that with over 23 lakh NEET aspirants and only 1.1 lakh seats, the increase is crucial to meeting demand and strengthening India’s healthcare sector. The Economic Survey 2024-25 also highlighted the geographic imbalance in medical education, with over 50% of seats concentrated in southern states and a stark urban-rural doctor density gap of 3.8:1.

Experts also stress the need for faculty expansion alongside infrastructure growth. Preety Kumar, Managing Partner at Amrop India, emphasized the importance of high-quality faculty to support new institutions. Monica Malhotra Kandhari, MD of Aasoka (MBD Group), called the expansion a major boost for healthcare education.

While welcoming the initiative, Indranil Manna, Vice Chancellor, BIT Mesra, pointed out that greater support for private institutions would further enhance the sector, as most students enroll in private colleges. Dr. Venkat Rangan, VC of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, and Supriya Pattanayak, VC of Centurion University, Odisha, also praised the initiative for improving healthcare accessibility.

With over 1.1 lakh MBBS seats nationwide and a record 25 lakh students appearing for NEET UG 2024, experts agree that expanding capacity is essential to retaining talent and strengthening India’s medical education system.

Source: PTI