Yesterday, Wednesday, September 24, the Union Cabinet approved a Rs 15,034.5 crore project to upgrade existing state and central government-run medical institutions and hospitals across the country, according to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

The third phase of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme aims to improve state and central government hospitals, standalone postgraduate institutes, and government medical colleges and teaching hospitals. It seeks to increase postgraduate (PG) and MBBS seats by 5,000 and 5,023, respectively, and raise the cost ceiling to Rs 1.5 crore.

The government said that this medical expansion scheme would help increase the availability of doctors in the country, MoneyControl reports.

The initiative will cost Rs 15,034.5 crore over three years, from 2025–26 to 2028–29. Central government hospitals would receive Rs 10,303.2 crore of the total sum, with the remaining Rs 4,731.3 crore going to state government facilities.

“This initiative will significantly augment the undergraduate medical capacity; availability of specialist doctors by creating additional postgraduate seats; and enable the introduction of new specialities across government medical institutions. This will strengthen the overall availability of doctors in the country,” a statement from the Government of India, published in the Press Information Bureau, said. 

In the last decade, over 69,352 new MBBS seats and 43,041 PG seats were added, registering a growth of 127 per cent, and 143 per cent, respectively, the statement further revealed.