Two new private medical colleges, 1,300 additional medical seats for Karnataka

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has sanctioned two private medical colleges for the State for 2026-27 and approved an enhancement of a total of 1,300 seats.

The NMC has sanctioned private colleges Alva’s Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre (AIMSRC), Dakshina Kannada district, with a total capacity of 150 seats, and Chettinad Institute of Medical Education and Research (CIMER), BEML Nagar, KGF, Kolar district, with a capacity of 100 seats.

With this, the total number of medical colleges in Karnataka has increased to 75 this year, including 24 government medical colleges and 51 private medical colleges. Last year, 73 medical colleges were functioning.

This year, the State had submitted a proposal to the NMC for the establishment of six medical colleges, including three new government medical colleges in Ramanagara, Kanakapura and Bagalkot and three private colleges - Reddy Jana Sangha Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Bengaluru, Alva’s Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre in Dakshina Kannada district, and Chettinad Institute of Medical Education and Research (CIMER) in KGF.

However, due to lack of infrastructure, non-recruitment of human resources and other reasons, the NMC approved only two private colleges.

Enhancement of 1,300 seats

For the current academic year, the NMC has given a total of 9,911 seats enhancement to undergraduate medical seats (MBBS) across the country, including a total of 1,300 medical seats to Karnataka.

Of these , 150 seats have been approved to government medical colleges in the State, while 1,150 seats have been granted to private medical colleges.

This year, a total of 15,395 medical seats are available in 75 medical colleges in the State. Last year, 14,095 seats were available from 73 medical colleges.

With this, Karnataka has emerged as the State with the highest number of medical seats in the country. Uttar Pradesh has a total of 88 medical colleges with 14,000 seats. Maharashtra has 84 medical colleges with 13,099 seats available. Tamil Nadu has 78 medical colleges with 13,999 medical seats.

Speaking to The Hindu, B.L. Sujatha Rathod, Director, Directorate of Medical Education, said, “This year, the state has been allocated an additional 1,300 medical seats by the NMC, taking the total number of seats to over 15,000. With this, Karnataka has become the state with the highest number of medical seats in the country. The NEET-2026 results have been released recently, and the counselling process for the allocation of medical seats will begin. The matrix of medical seats will be submitted to Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) soon.”