Karnataka Government Proposes for 15% NRI Quota in Medical Colleges; Check Details Here

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Karnataka government requested to establish a 15% quota for NRIs in its government medical colleges starting in the 2025-26 academic year. Medical Education Minister has requested NMC to approve 508 additional MBBS seats.

Karnataka Government's Proposal for 15% NRI Quota in Medical Colleges

New Delhi: The Karnataka government has requested the Centre to approve additional MBBS seats for non-resident Indians (NRIs) in state government medical colleges starting from the 2025-26 academic year. On June 27, Karnataka Medical Education Minister Dr Sharan Prakash Patil wrote to the chairman of the National Medical Commission (NMC) requesting for the creation of 508 additional MBBS seats.

He further requested that a 15% NRI quota be reserved from the total number of supernumerary seats across 22 government medical colleges in the state. These supernumerary seats would be in addition to the colleges' annual intake. Minister Patil supported the proposal by referencing the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines and the National Education Policy 2020.

Dr. Patil’s Justification for NRI Quota

According to Dr. Sharan Patil, UGC and NEP, 2020 provisions cite the inclusion of international students in Indian higher education to enhance global outreach. He also highlighted that other states like Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Puducherry have similar quotas for NRI students, who pay between $75,000 to $100,000 for a five-year course. In contrast, private medical colleges in Karnataka charge NRI students between INR 1 crore to INR 2.5 crore.

Dr Patil expressed his views on this request to NMC, “Creating NRI quota within the available annual intake of seats is not feasible and disturbing the existing intake will create fewer seats for the poor and underprivileged, also triggering protests from students and parents”. And further stated that “I am confident that the Centre would accede to the state’s demand to sanction 15 percent NRI quota by creating supernumerary MBBS seats from the academic year 2025-26”.

Proposed Fee Structure by Dr. Patil

Dr. Patil noted that autonomous medical institutions in Karnataka face financial shortages despite various funding sources. He emphasized the need for extra funds to enhance education quality, infrastructure, faculty strength, and research capabilities. To address this, he proposed setting an annual fee of INR 25 lakh per NRI student, aiming to generate INR 127 crore in the first year and INR 571.5 crore by the fifth year.

Karnataka's veterinary, agriculture, and horticulture universities already have a 15% NRI quota. These additional seats and higher fees help improve facilities and provide quality education. Karnataka has 22 government medical colleges with a total intake of 3,450 seats for the 2023-24 academic year. Of these, 85% (2,929 seats) are reserved for Karnataka residents, and 15% (521 seats) are allocated for the all-India quota.

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