NMC junks 150-seat MBBS cap, population rule; sets 10 km limit for medical college-hospital distance

In a move that will likely perpetuate the unabated expansion of medical education opportunities, especially in existing institutes and in the southern part of the country, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has removed the 150-seat cap for the MBBS seats in colleges.

The medical education regulator has also removed a rule that linked the availability of undergraduate (UG) medical spots in a state to its population – 100 seats per 10 lakh people. It has re-determined the maximum allowable distance between a medical college and its attached hospitals from the current ‘30-minutes travel time’ to 10 km, and, in the case of northeastern and Himalayan states, 15 km.

These provisions were introduced less than three years ago as part of NMC’s Guidelines for Under Graduate Courses under Establishment of New Medical Institutions, Starting of New Medical Courses, Increase of Seats for Existing Courses & Assessment and Rating Regulations, 2023 (UG-MSR 2023).

NMC MBBS seat-cap rule

While the population criterion was aimed at correcting regional imbalances in medical training – southern states have significantly higher concentration of medical colleges compared to the northern ones – the per college seat ceiling sought to avoid overcrowding in colleges and ensure adequate clinical exposure to students.

However, the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, as well as the union territory of Puducherry, have vehemently opposed the restrictions, arguing that they were being punished for having a superior healthcare and medical education system in place. As a result, NMC never enforced the new norms and kept deferring their implementation.

Meanwhile, the commission has kept approving newer medical colleges and sections within the existing ones in all parts of the country at a rapid pace. The number of medical colleges has grown from 387 in 2014 to over 818 by late 2025, with a 127% increase in MBBS seats.

In 2025-26, the nationwide intake for MBBS increased by 11,682 – the highest ever in absolute terms – taking the overall count of UG seats to 1,29,872. The centre plans to add 75,000 new medical seats over five years, starting from 2024.

Medical Colleges: Lack of faculty, infrastructure

However, as Academia360 previously reported, the proliferation of colleges has also raised concerns about the paucity of faculty and infrastructure as well as poor patient load and clinical training opportunities in newer establishments. Some of the new medical colleges have been set up at a considerable distance from their hospitals, adding to the learners’ woes.

The parliamentary committee on health and family welfare, in some of its recent reports, had taken a dim view of the centre deferring the use of the population metric to permit new colleges, asserting that it was necessary for equitable distribution of healthcare infrastructure across states and regions, especially in underserved and densely populated areas.

The panel, however, advocated for raising the cap for UG intake from 150 slots per college to 250, subject to the applicant colleges having adequate infrastructure and faculty and the expansion being carried out in a phased manner.