The State government has submitted a proposal to the National Medical Commission (NMC) for the establishment of five new medical colleges across the State, including three government colleges.

Proposals have also been submitted for the establishment of Ramanagara Institute of Medical Sciences in Ramanagara, Kanakapura Institute of Medical Sciences in Kanakapura of Bengaluru South, and Bagalkot Institute of Medical Science in Bagalkot district.

In addition, a request has been submitted for the establishment of private colleges, namely Karnataka Reddy Jana Sangha Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Bengaluru, and Alva’s Medical College in Moodbidri of Dakshina Kannada district.

It has been requested to sanction 100 intakes each for all these colleges.

Incidentally, the NMC has been rejecting the proposal to establish new government medical colleges in Ramanagara and Kanakapura for the last three years owing to the lack of necessary infrastructure.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil had held a meeting with officials of the Medical Education department and instructed them to make necessary preparations for the establishment of the new colleges in Ramanagara and Kanakapura and submit a request to the NMC. The request had been rejected in 2025-26.

The State government decided to construct a medical college and hospital in Kanakapura at a cost of about ₹550 crore and gave administrative approval in October 2025. A foundation stone-laying ceremony will be held on Thursday (May 14).

However, the works to build the medical college, proposed to be established on the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) campus in Ramanagara, is only 50% complete. As a result, the government has decided to make the medical college operational using the district hospital.

Meanwhile, sources in the Medical Education Department said that the necessary arrangements, including the building to house the Bagalkot Medical College, have been completed.

“All preparations have been completed to establish the medical college in Bagalkot. Steps have been taken to do the same using the taluk hospital in Kanakapura and the district hospital in Ramanagara. The internal reservation issues have been resolved and the recruitment process for the necessary staff is under way. The recruitment process will be completed soon,” said B.L. Sujatha Rathod, director, Directorate of Medical Education.

Medical seats enhancement

The Medical Education Department has also submitted a proposal to the NMC for the enhancement of 2,623 medical seats in government and private medical colleges, including 1,250 undergraduate (UG-MBBS) and 1,373 postgraduate (PG-MD/MS) medical seats, for the year 2026-27.

There are 72 medical colleges across the State, and a total of 13,945 UG and about 7,700 PG medical seats were available for the year 2025-26.