MBBS in India

Distribution of MBBS seats

India has an almost equal number of private and public medical colleges. There are more than 550 medical colleges in the country. Of these, around 285 are government-funded and around 270 are private.

If we examine the comparison of these 2 sectors in terms of MBBS seats, we find that as many as 43,000 seats exist in the public medical colleges while 40,000 in the private colleges. The total MBBS seats in 2022-23 add up to around 83,000.

Meanwhile, during the last decade, 243 medical colleges have come up in the country.

Also, we can examine the state-wise distribution of MBBS seats as well. So, Karnataka tops the list of states by having 9345 MBBS seats. Then come Maharashtra with 9000 seats and Tamil Nadu with 8000 seats.

In the following table, we present a year-wise comparison between government & private colleges & seats along with the NEET aspirants & success rates among them. We have covered all the NEET-UG exams held from 2017.

Changes in number of colleges

The last decade has witnessed the establishment of 124 public medical colleges & 100 private medical colleges. In other words, the former saw a 45% rise in number while the latter, 37%. If we combine the 2 types, we find that the total number of medical colleges in India rose by 40%.

Likewise, in the last 5 years, the total seats in MBBS increased by 18% which gives us an absolute figure of 13,000 seats, all across the country. In the same vein, the number of students appearing in NEET-UG rose by a whopping 40% (500K more than before).

Let us look at these two figures together now. One may get very anxious when she realizes that there is no comparison between the new number of aspirants and available seats. If anything, the chances of succeeding in NEET-UG just hit rock-bottom. That is to say, your chances of getting a government MBBS seat in India have taken a major hit.

NEET UG Success Rate

Also, when we compare the number of takers of this test with those who succeed, the figure is alarmingly low. The rate of success comes out to be 2.5%! Certainly, you may object to saying that these are figures of the government seats only. However, even if we add the 40k private seats as well, the success rate does not exceed 5%.

Moreover, there is a ridiculous cost involved in doing MBBS from an Indian private medical college. The cost is very high even in the cheapest private medical college in India for MBBS. MBBS course fees in private medical colleges in India fall in the range of 70 lacs – 1 Cr INR. MBBS in India cost difference in private & government medical colleges is huge.

You automatically come to a conclusion that is certainly alarming, to say the least! You realize that those aspirants, who are unable to crack NEET-UG or to afford to pay an exorbitant amount, have no way to fulfill their dream of making a career in medicine.

Options of doing MBBS

Thankfully above conclusion is far from accurate. You do not have to give up your dream at all. On the contrary, MOKSH encourages you to believe that you are definitely becoming a doctor. In fact, you should plan for further ahead; about which specialty will you choose for doing your medical PG.

MBBS admission in India is not at all the only option. We draw your attention towards the option of doing MBBS from certain other countries. We are talking about the foreign universities that offer English-taught, MBBS programs. These universities, apart from being publicly funded and really old, are also very affordable (total investment in the range of 20 – 30 lacs). Most importantly, most of these Universities have a far better world ranking than most of the colleges in India.

Also, a degree from these universities enjoys all the international accreditations that make you eligible to choose any of the pathways for higher studies. Every year, the number of Indian students making a bee-line to these universities is rising spectacularly. Click here to know more about MBBS Abroad.

Below, we offer a short analysis of the status of the Fee Structure of MBBS Colleges in India.

MBBS in India: Fee Structure

A very common feature that all medical colleges in India exhibit in their fee structure is variation. Far from being uniform, the criteria on the basis of which this variability exists are also more than one. Firstly, you will find a variation that comes due to differences in the type of the medical colleges. So, the fees will be different for private medical colleges, government medical colleges, and deemed universities.

In the same vein, you will find variation due to the nature of individual seats in the same college. Therefore, the amount is different when you pay for a government seat, a management seat, or an NRI quota seat.
We have summarized the fee structure variation along with the above two parameters. The figures you see are not exact. In contrast, they are rough averages that we have worked out to give you a feel of the real figures.

MBBS in India: Counselling

It is a fact that the number of doctors in India per 1000 patients is less than 1 at this point in time. And this is in spite of the fact that the number of doctors that the medical education system in India started creating for us in 2021 was around 84,000. The private medical colleges in India and the medical universities abroad will also contribute sizably to this number.

The challenge of maintaining and regularizing the medical infrastructure in a vast and densely populated country like India is big, to say the least. The process of allocation of the available government seats for MBBS is ‘Counseling’ and the body that shoulders the responsibility of supervising this formidable task every year is the Medical Counseling Committee (MCC).

To understand the process of Medical Counseling in India, you must begin by looking at the different types of medical colleges in India. So, we can broadly classify these as below.

• Autonomous Institutes like AIIMS
• Medical Colleges under Central Universities
• State Government Medical Colleges
• Medical Colleges under Deemed Universities
• Private Medical Colleges

The Counseling process for filling up these MBBS seats takes place at two levels.

NEET UG State Counseling

The states conduct counseling to fill up the medical seats that exist in different types of medical colleges that do not come under the aegis of All India Counseling. There are 1035 such seats in central universities run medical colleges, 34187 in colleges run by the state governments, & 33470 in private medical colleges.

In 2021, the total number of medical colleges for MBBS whose seats got filled by the State Counseling 2021 was 490.