Policy Update
Sai Srinesh Duppati
India has witnessed rapid growth in its number of medical colleges over the past few decades, especially in recent times.
The National Medical Commission (NMC) is the primary body responsible for regulating medical education and practice, having replaced the Medical Council of India (MCI) in 2020. Medical schools have been structured in both the public and private sectors. There are 779 colleges across India offering a five-and-a-half-year medical education leading to a university qualification: a Medical Bachelor and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in allopathic medicine, covering 117,950 seats. Post-independence, India has witnessed rapid growth over the decades, and now India is handling the world’s largest medical education system, and private-featured medical education has been evolving over the decades.
The FY26 budget allocation further reflects this trend, medical education saw a significant role of importance, with plans to add 10,000 additional medical seats in the upcoming year, which will contribute toward a long-term goal of adding 75,000 seats in the coming five years. This budget acknowledged the need for more doctors and specialists to improve India’s health services.
Figure 1. Growth in the number of medical schools in India
Source: National Library of Medicine
Table 1. Details of MBBS & PG seats (excluding NBEMS seats) available in Private and Government Medical Colleges during the last three years
Source: Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
Since 2014, India has witnessed a substantial expansion in its medical education sector:
- Medical Colleges: Increased by 88%, from 387 in 2014 to 779 by 2025.
- MBBS Seats: Grew by 129.7%, from 51,348 to 1,17,950.
- Postgraduate (PG) Seats: Rose by 134.59%, from 31,185 to 73,157.
This growth reflects the government’s focused efforts to address the shortage of medical professionals and strengthen the healthcare system nationwide.
Some of the measures/steps taken by the Government to increase the number of seats and to improve the quality of education in Government Medical Colleges include:
1. Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for the establishment of new medical colleges by upgrading district/ referral hospitals under which 157 new medical colleges have been approved, out of which 109 are already functional.
2. CSS for strengthening/ upgradation of existing State Government/ Central Government medical colleges to increase the number of MBBS (UG) and PG seats, under which support has been provided for an increase of 4,977 MBBS seats in 83 colleges with an approved cost of Rs. 5,972.20 Cr, 4,058 PG seats in phase-I in 72 colleges with an approved cost of Rs. 1,498.43 Cr and 4,000 PG seats in phase-II in 65 colleges with an approved cost of Rs. 4,478.25 Cr.
3. Under the “Upgradation of Government Medical Colleges by Construction of Super Specialty Blocks” component of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), a total of 75 projects have been approved, of which 66 projects are complete.
Under the Central Sector Scheme for setting up new AIIMS, 22 AIIMS have been approved. Undergraduate courses have started in 19 of these.
4. Diplomate of National Board (DNB) is a postgraduate medical qualification awarded by the National Board of Examinations (NBE) in India. DNB is considered equivalent to MD/MS for various medical specialties and has been recognized for appointment as teaching faculty to address the shortage of medical educators in India. Enhancement of age limit for appointment/ extension/ re-employment against posts of teachers/dean/principal/ director in medical colleges up to 70 years.
Government Empowering PG Seats to Meet Healthcare Demands
After increasing the number of undergraduate (UG) medical seats to approximately 1.2 lakh, the government is now focusing on increasing postgraduate (PG) seats. PG medical seats are going to be focused on fulfilling the budget announcement for adding 10,000 medical seats over the next one year. This will boost MBBS graduates to pursue higher education to fulfill the rising demand for specialist doctors.
India is well-placed to achieve the WHO (World Health Organization) recommendation of one doctor per 1,000 population by 2030, there are 13.86 lakh doctors in the country, which translates into a current availability ratio of 1:1263. The WHO standard norm seems to be achievable by 2030 with a conservative estimate of 50,000 doctors being licensed every year until 2030. This has led to a sustainable transformation in medical education in India, acknowledging the demand for doctors in health services by fostering UG and PG medical seats over the past years.
The government has served as the driving force in developing the healthcare system to meet the WHO-recommended doctor-to-population ratio of 1:1000 by 2030. COVID-19 has taught us the urgency of medical emergencies, emphasizing the need to establish more medical colleges to address the shortage of doctors and hospitals across the country.
Figure 2. Geographic distribution of medical schools in poorly and better performing provinces of India in 2012
Source: National Library of Medicine
Indian Student Migration for Medical Education to Central & East Asia
As per the 2024 UG NEET exam data, 23,33,297 students have appeared for the NEET exam.
Hence, the final seats for MBBS are nearly 1.2 lakh. So, this defines the competition of masses to pursue medical education in India and symbolizes only a 7-8% success rate, meaning a limited number of students would make it. This pushes students to seek medical education abroad.”
Though Indian medical education has been expensive in private colleges, it is affordable in public colleges. The ones who get a higher qualification score in NEET would pursue government medical colleges with a lesser fee structure compared to private institutions. Hence, people tend to move abroad to countries like China, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and the Philippines. The annual count of students who go abroad could be 20,000-25,000.
International student migration focuses mainly on two trends:
(a) Students from developing countries migrate to developed countries to get jobs and also for a better quality of life. For instance, many Indian students migrate to countries like the USA, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and European countries, etc.
(b) Migration for a better quality of education that might not be available in their own country, and some of them may come back to their own countries.
However, international migration for medical education from India to Central & East Asian countries is feasible. The quality of education is not perceived as better than that available in India. Hence, the motivations and dynamics of these migrated Indian students need to be analyzed separately from general student migration.
Motivations and Dynamics of Indian Students Involved in Migration for Medical Education:
Due to excess demand for medical education and higher competition in India, there is a lower success rate in achieving seats in medical colleges for those who get a reasonable score in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).
Medical education is comparatively cheaper in Central Asian universities than in private self-financing colleges in India.
Countries like Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, etc., have lower-quality education than India. Hence, people go for pursuing MBBS with the intent to return and practice in India.
Students who have cleared NEET and scored a minimum of 50% in higher secondary are eligible and can afford to pay the fees.
Those who get admission to Indian government colleges are less likely to migrate to Central Asian countries.
There can be failures in migration for medical education due to the perception that the majority of the students fail in the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) of India. This could be due to their overestimated abilities, and only a small percentage of foreign medical graduates could pass the qualifying examination.
Granting licenses to all medical graduates through a common examination like the National Exit Test (NExT) can be a useful step to fill the gap of doctors needed in the country, including in rural India.
Reducing India’s Dependency on Foreign Medical Education: Policy Suggestions and Regulatory Measures
India’s growing medical education sector has seen tremendous expansion, yet thousands of students continue to migrate abroad for medical degrees, particularly to Central and East Asia. This trend points to gaps in accessibility, affordability, and geographic distribution of quality education within India. To reduce reliance on foreign institutions, India must adopt a multi-pronged policy approach.
1. Expand Affordable Medical Education Domestically
- Increase Public Medical Colleges: Focus on opening more government-funded institutions, especially in underserved rural and semi-urban areas, to ensure wider access.
- Subsidized Private Education: Provide financial incentives to private colleges that offer need-based scholarships or reduced tuition to meritorious students.
- Bridge UG-PG Gap: Expand postgraduate seats to encourage MBBS graduates to continue higher education within India.
2. Improve Quality and Distribution
- Rural Medical Hubs: Encourage establishment of medical colleges in rural districts with proper infrastructure and incentives for faculty.
- Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): Leverage private investment in building teaching hospitals, while maintaining strong government oversight.
3. Strengthen Regulatory Mechanisms
- Standardize Licensing via NExT: Ensure all medical graduates, whether from Indian or foreign institutions, pass a common licensure exam (NExT), maintaining quality parity.
- Quality Control of Foreign Degrees: Create a publicly accessible accreditation list of approved foreign universities that meet minimum standards.
4. Role of Indian Embassies and NMC
- Embassy Inspections: Indian embassies, in coordination with the National Medical Commission (NMC), should evaluate foreign medical institutions with significant Indian student populations for infrastructure, curriculum, and faculty quality.
- Bilateral Agreements: Sign educational Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with countries hosting large numbers of Indian medical students to ensure recognition of degrees, internship standards, and curriculum parity.
5. Career Support for Foreign Graduates
- Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) Support Programs: Offer preparatory programs and bridging courses to foreign medical graduates to increase their success in licensure exams.
- Incentivize Rural Service: Encourage returnees to serve in underserved areas through fast-track internships, housing, or higher stipends.
While India’s medical education system is expanding, disparities in access and affordability push students abroad. A comprehensive approach combining domestic capacity-building, improved regulation, and international collaboration will help reduce dependency on foreign medical education and better align India’s medical workforce with its healthcare needs.
Bridging the Rural Healthcare Gap: The Need for Medical Education Expansion in Rural India
India has more medical colleges than any other country in the world, followed by China and Brazil. In rural India, there are three doctors for every 10,000 people, but in metropolitan regions, there are thirteen doctors for every 10,000 people.After the year 2000, there was significant growth in medical colleges in rural districts. Many states like Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh started establishing medical colleges in their rural districts after 2000.
In rural areas of states like Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, and Arunachal Pradesh, there were no medical colleges. Less than 30% of rural areas in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, and Rajasthan have a medical college. A lesser number of new medical schools were founded in states with a preponderance of rural inhabitants, and 130 (45.5%) of the 286 new medical institutions founded in India since 2000 were in rural areas.
Most doctors work in urban areas (74%), while rural areas have only 0.2 hospital beds per 1,000 population, compared to 1.1 beds per 1,000 population in urban areas.
Why Rural Medical Education?
Rural graduates, who come from rural primary schools and are more aware of the healthcare requirements in their area, could serve as a benchmark for bridging the gap between public-owned medical colleges and sustainable rural growth in the healthcare system. The government must take charge of primary education by incorporating social sciences and sciences to create awareness about public sector opportunities in healthcare, ultimately leading to the empowerment of rural health services.
Furthermore, the government should collaborate with foreign medical graduates to bridge the gap in the supply of efficient doctors needed in the country, particularly to ensure adequate medical practice in rural India. The National Exit Test (NExT) could play a crucial role in addressing the shortage of doctors and fulfilling the healthcare needs of the country.
Figure 3. Number of medical colleges per million population in different states
Source: The National Medical Journal of India
Integrating AYUSH into Medical Education: The Role of the AYURGYAN Scheme
Through institutional frameworks, especially the AYUSH systems, India’s diverse healthcare system has come to appreciate the importance of traditional medical systems. The Ministry of AYUSH’s AYURGYAN Scheme is one of the historic programs designed to increase capacity and uniformity in this field. This plan tackles the urgent need to connect modern medical education, research techniques, and technology development with traditional health practices.
Objectives and Strategic Vision
The AYURGYAN Scheme is a multifaceted program that aims to:
- Develop human resource capacity in the AYUSH sector.
- Promote Continuing Medical Education (CME) for AYUSH practitioners to remain abreast of current trends and advancements.
- Encourage research and innovation in high-priority areas to validate therapeutic claims.
- Integrate traditional knowledge systems with modern tools such as bioinformatics, molecular biology, and pharmacology.
- Facilitate interdisciplinary research and institutional collaborations for scientific validation and global acceptance of AYUSH approaches.
- By focusing on both clinical skill development and academic advancement, the scheme serves as a foundational pillar for the modernization of AYUSH education in India.
Key Beneficiary Segments and Educational Impact
The scheme delineates multiple targeted interventions for various categories of stakeholders in the AYUSH ecosystem:
1. Capacity Building and Continuing Medical Education (CME) in Ayush: Continuing Medical Education (CME) in Ayush involves ongoing professional training and development initiatives for Ayush healthcare professionals, including doctors, teachers, and paramedics. It aims to enhance their knowledge, skills, and clinical practices to keep pace with emerging trends and advancements in the Ayush healthcare sector.
| Beneficiary | Benefits |
| Doctors | Clinical Assistance |
| Teachers | Professional Development |
| Ayush Paramedics and Health workers | Periodical Training |
| Administrators of Ayush Institutions | Management Training |
| Ayush Professionals | Updated Knowledge and Skills |
2. Research and Innovation in Ayush: Research and innovation in Ayush entails the exploration and development of new therapies, drugs, and practices within the Ayush systems of medicine. It aims to advance scientific validation, safety, efficacy, and quality control of Ayush products and therapies while promoting interdisciplinary approaches for holistic healthcare solutions.
| Beneficiary | Benefits |
| Researchers and Scientists | Research and Development |
| Ayush Professionals | Evidence-Based Support |
| Ayush Entrepreneurs | Intellectual Property Rights PotentialI |
| Human Resource in Ayush | Scientific Aptitude Development |
| Collaborative Ventures | Job Research Initiatives |
3. Ayurveda Biology Integrated Health Research: The Ayurveda Biology Integrated Health Research Programme aims to bridge traditional Ayurveda principles with modern sciences like molecular biology, pharmacology, immunology, and bioinformatics. Through high-impact research studies, it seeks to generate evidence, standardize integrative protocols, and develop a comprehensive understanding of Ayurveda’s principles, fostering the potential integration of Ayurveda practices into national healthcare programs.
| Beneficiary | Benefits |
| Researchers and Scientists in Ayurveda Biology | Sustainable Platform Development |
| Integrative Health Researchers | High-End Integrative Research Support |
| Institutions in Biomedical Engineering | Technology Development |
| Doctors and Practitioners | Clinical and Real-world Evidence |
| Educational Institutions | Development of Trans-Disciplinary Approaches |
As medical education in India evolves toward a more inclusive and pluralistic model, schemes like AYURGYAN exemplify how policy-led initiatives can cultivate interdisciplinary excellence, capacity building, and global recognition of indigenous systems.
Achieving WHO Standards by 2030
The Economic Survey 2024-2025 states that India currently has 13.86 lakh doctors, translating to a doctor-patient ratio of 1:1263. The WHO recommends a ratio of 1:1000, which India aims to achieve by 2030. With a conservative estimate of 50,000 new doctors being licensed annually, the target appears feasible.
Steps to Accelerate Progress:
- Expanding UG and PG medical seats.
- Strengthening medical infrastructure in rural areas.
- Encouraging private-public partnerships in medical education.
Conclusion
India’s rapid expansion in medical education has placed it at the forefront globally. However, challenges persist in ensuring equitable distribution of healthcare services, particularly in rural regions. The migration of Indian students abroad for medical education highlights the need for better domestic opportunities. Government initiatives, including the establishment of new medical colleges, AIIMS expansion, and reforms like NExT, are critical to addressing the doctor shortage and achieving WHO standards. AYURGYAN empowers Ayush stakeholders through education, innovation, and research, driving national and global advancement of traditional Indian healthcare systems. A sustainable approach to medical education and rural healthcare will be essential in meeting India’s growing healthcare needs in the coming years.
References
- Agarwal, A., Balani, K., & Venkateswaran, S. (2023). Medical Education in India: A Study of Supply-side Dynamics (CSEP Working Paper 55). Centre for Social and Economic Progress. https://csep.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Medical-Education-in-India-1.pdf
- Brahmapurkar, K. P., Zodpey, S. P., Sabde, Y. D., & Brahmapurkar, V. K. (2018). The need to focus on medical education in rural districts of India. The National Medical Journal of India, 31(3), 164–168. https://nmji.in/the-need-to-focus-on-medical-education-in-rural-districts-of-india/
- Gopal, K. S. U. (2025, February 4). Union Budget 2025: A pulse check on healthcare. Observer Research Foundation. https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/union-budget-2025-a-pulse-check-on-healthcare
- Jha, D. N. (2025, February 4). Government eyes PG route to create 10,000 new medical seats. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/government-eyes-pg-route-to-create-10000-new-medical-seats/articleshow/117901825.cms
- Ministry of AYUSH. (n.d.). AyurGyan. Government of India. https://ayush.gov.in/#!/ayurgyan
- Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. (2024, July 30). Steps taken to Increase Medical Colleges and MBBS Seats. Government of India. https://mohfw.gov.in/?q=pressrelease-33
- Report Odisha. (2024, February 10). 22 AIIMS approved with 19 AIIMS having undergraduate courses. Report Odisha. https://reportodisha.com/22-aiims-approved-with-19-aiims-having-undergraduate-courses/
- Santhakumar, V. (2024, May 9). Indian Student Migration for Medical Education to Central and East Asia: Understanding Demand, Supply and Roles of Market and State. Azim Premji University. https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/insights-from-social-context/indian-student-migration-for-medical-education-to-central-and-east-asia-understanding-demand-supply-and-roles-of-market-and-state
About the Contributor: Sai Srinesh Duppati is a Research Intern at IMPRI and is pursuing his Master’s degree in Economics from Pondicherry University.
Acknowledgement: The author expresses sincere gratitude to all those who provided guidance, with special thanks to Dr Arjun Kumar and Ma’am Aasthaba Jadeja.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
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