138 medical and dental seats vacant in Maharashtra after six admission rounds

The six-round admission process for medical and dental courses in Maharashtra is complete, yet 138 seats remain vacant. They include 84 MBBS seats and 54 BDS seats. Not a single MBBS seat is vacant in the government medical colleges.

Most of the vacant seats are in private medical colleges and private universities. This year, for the first time, institution-level admissions to medical and dental courses were also made through the CET. It is therefore being claimed that alleged irregularities in private institutions have been curbed.

According to admission data, the state had 8,814 MBBS seats in all. Admissions were made to 8,730 of them, an admission rate of 99.04 per cent, leaving 84 seats vacant. BDS had 2,617 seats, of which 2,563 were filled. The admission rate was 97.93 per cent and 54 seats remain vacant.

The 43 government medical colleges in the state had 5,065 MBBS seats, and students took up all of them. Admissions in government colleges were thus 100 per cent.

The picture is different in private colleges. The state's 25 private medical colleges had 3,299 MBBS seats, but only 3,260 were filled and 39 remain vacant. Two private medical universities that received fresh recognition this year also did not see the admissions expected. They had 450 MBBS seats in all; 405 were filled and 45 remain vacant. Of the 84 vacant MBBS seats, 39 are in private medical colleges and 45 in private universities. No seat is vacant in government colleges.

The same gap between government and private institutions was seen in dental courses. The state's five government dental colleges had 317 seats, of which 315 were filled and only 2 remain vacant. Of the 2,200 seats in 23 private dental colleges, 2,178 were filled and 22 are vacant.

A private dental university that received recognition this year had 100 seats, but admissions were made to only 70. Thirty seats there remain vacant.

Compared with the past three academic years, MBBS seats have been filled almost entirely. In 2025-26, all 8,537 seats were filled. In 2024-25, not one of the 8,143 seats was vacant. In 2023-24 too, all 7,285 MBBS seats were filled.

BDS admission rates have also been quite high in previous years. In 2025-26, only one of 2,718 seats was vacant. In 2024-25, one of 2,675 seats was vacant, while in 2023-24 admissions could not be made to 11 seats out of the same number.