Ahead of the National Undergraduate Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET UG) results 2026, the National Medical Council (NMC) has released the approved seat matrix for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) admissions, giving thousands of aspirants a clearer idea of ​​the seats available during the counseling period.The seat matrix released by the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) on July 14 covers all undergraduate MBBS seats except those offered by Institutions of National Importance (INI). The information has been forwarded to all medical colleges as well as the Medical Consultative Committee (MCC) under the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), which is responsible for all-India quota consultation.This year’s matric shows that 1,36,939 MBBS seats will be offered in 823 medical colleges. Among them, there are 1,27,028 existing enrollment places and 9,911 newly approved places, reflecting the continued expansion of undergraduate medical education.

According to the committee, seven new government medical colleges will have 400 seats, while 18 new private medical colleges will have 2,000 seats.The rest of the growth comes from expansions approved by existing medical schools.

Although the number of public medical colleges continues to outnumber private medical colleges, private colleges accounted for a larger share of MBBS seats this year.The government medical colleges consist of 441 colleges and have a total of 63,296 seats, including 61,185 renewed seats and 2,111 newly approved seats.There are 382 private medical schools with 73,643 places, including 65,843 updated places and 7,800 newly approved places.Data shows that a large part of this year’s capacity expansion will come from the private sector.

Among states, Karnataka continues to have the highest number of approved seats in MBBS with 15,395 seats in 75 medical colleges.Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of medical colleges in the country with 88 medical colleges offering 14,000 seats. Tamil Nadu has 78 universities with 13,999 seats and Maharashtra has 86 universities with 13,099 seats. Telangana has 66 medical colleges with 10,250 seats.Once the NEET UG results are announced, the state-by-state distribution is expected to influence the counseling selection.

In addition to the seat matrix, the Medical Assessment and Rating Commission has directed all private medical colleges that have received approval for the new MBBS college or increased admission capacity to submit the required electronic bank guarantee within seven days of the announcement.The guarantee must be provided to the MARB Director. Details will be shared via the email address specified in the notification. The Board has made it clear that the permission letter will be issued only after receiving the electronic bank guarantee and deeming it to be in compliance with the requirements.

The Commission clarified that the approved seat matrix is ​​not final and may be modified, if necessary, based on the decision of the Appeal Board or any other competent authority.Any revised seat matrix will be uploaded on the State Medical Council website and will be considered by the Medical Advisory Committee and the State Counseling Body during the admission process.The notice also places a responsibility on counseling institutions to strictly follow the approved admissions plan. If any discrepancy is found in the notified seating matrix, it must be submitted to the Medical Assessment and Rating Committee for clarification.The committee directed that under no circumstances shall the advisory committee allow admission beyond the number of seats approved and notified by MARB, thereby making the published seat matrix the basis for MBBS admissions for the academic session 2026-27.