Representative image | Photo credit: Getty Images
Tamil Nadu will add 950 additional MBBS seats in government and private medical colleges in the academic year 2026-27, according to the latest National Medical Commission (NMC) undergraduate seat table (as of July 13). This increase will take the total number of MBBS seats in 78 colleges in the state to 13,999.
The state currently has the third highest number of MBBS seats in the country. Karnataka leads with 15,395 seats, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 14,000 seats.
NEET Retest Results 2026: 12 Tamil Nadu Students Score More Than 390
The seat matrix released by the NMC includes approvals granted by the Medical Assessment and Ranking Board (MARB) for setting up new medical colleges as well as increasing the capacity of existing medical colleges, it said.
Additional seats have been approved in 13 TN medical colleges (three government and 10 private institutions), while the NMC has also approved setting up of one new private medical college with 150 seats.
While allowing government medical colleges in Namakkal and Tiruppur to increase their MBBS intake from 100 to 150 seats each, the NMC has also approved a similar increase for the government medical college in Tiruvallur, increasing its intake from 100 to 150 seats. This added 150 seats to government medical colleges, while private colleges accounted for the remaining 800 new seats.
Health Minister K.G. Arunraj, in a statement issued on Wednesday, said that as a result of continuous efforts made by the health department, MARB NMC has approved an additional 50 MBBS seats in each of the three government medical colleges. With this, the annual student capacity in each of these three government institutions has increased from 100 to 150 MBBS seats.
With intensive infrastructure expansion by the Health Department and timely submission of compliance reports, the state government has increased the total number of MBBS seats in its 36 government medical colleges to 5200. This reflects the government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen health infrastructure, increase faculty strength and improve health facilities, he said. The state government remains committed to maintaining TN’s position as a leading hub for healthcare and medical education in the country, Dr Arunraj said.
He said the Directorate of Medical Education and Research has been directed to smoothly include these 150 additional MBBS seats in the upcoming government consultation process for 2026-27. Admissions to all government medical colleges will be done strictly as per the final NMC seat matrix, he said.
This overall increase in the number of seats comes at a time when the state is set to lose a significant number of seats after three private medical colleges were given the status of ‘deemed universities’. The minister recently said that as a result of this, the state will lose 461 MBBS seats from the state quota. The government is now considering legal action as it will mean that these institutions will no longer be required to follow the reservation policy, 7.5% horizontal reservation for government school students, or adhere to the fee structure prescribed by the state government.
“Increasing the number of medical seats in government and private institutions will bring partial relief to students who are facing a wave of private colleges turning into universities with high tuition fees,” said Manickavel Arumugam, an education consultant.
Among private medical colleges, three institutions have been allowed to increase their enrollment by another 100 seats. The remaining seven were allowed to increase their enrollment by another 50 seats, according to the seat table.
Published – Jul 16, 2026 12:19 pm EST.