Aspirants seeking admission to MBBS courses in the state will have to shell out more from the 2026-27 academic session, with the Punjab department of medical education and research notifying a revised tuition fee structure for government medical colleges. The move will increase the cumulative tuition fee for the five-and-a-half-year MBBS course by around ₹85,000, taking the total from ₹9.98 lakh to ₹10.83 lakh, officials familiar with the matter said.
The revised fee structure will be applicable to candidates admitted through Punjab NEET UG counselling 2026, conducted by the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot.
The fee hike comes at a time when Punjab continues to have the lowest number of government medical colleges among neighbouring states, forcing a large number of students from economically weaker families to compete for limited seats or opt for significantly more expensive private institutions.
According to the notification, annual tuition fees have been increased across all phases of the MBBS course. The first-year tuition fee has been revised from ₹1.92 lakh to ₹2.02 lakh, while the second-year fee has increased from ₹2.11 lakh to ₹2.22 lakh. The third-year fee has gone up from ₹2.29 lakh to ₹2.44 lakh, and the fourth-year fee from ₹2.49 lakh to ₹2.68 lakh.
The steepest increase has been effected during the final six-month phase of the course, where the tuition fee has risen from ₹1.17 lakh to ₹1.47 lakh, an increase of ₹30,000.
{{/usCountry}}The steepest increase has been effected during the final six-month phase of the course, where the tuition fee has risen from ₹1.17 lakh to ₹1.47 lakh, an increase of ₹30,000.
{{/usCountry}}Overall, the cumulative tuition fee for the MBBS programme has increased by approximately 8.5%, adding nearly ₹85,000 to the cost of the course.
BFUHS conducts Punjab NEET UG counselling for admissions to MBBS and BDS courses offered by medical and dental colleges across the state. Candidates qualifying the NEET-UG examination are eligible to apply under various categories, including the state quota, government quota, management quota, minority quota and NRI quota.
Under the admission process, 85% of MBBS seats in government medical colleges are filled through Punjab state counselling conducted by the BFUHS, while the remaining 15% All India Quota (AIQ) seats are allotted through the medical counselling committee (MCC).
Officials in the Punjab medical education department defended the increase, saying it was part of the annual revision mechanism introduced through a notification issued in 2020 by the then Congress government.
“The 5% hike is an annual affair. The decision to increase tuition fees every year was taken by the previous government,” a senior department official said.
When asked why the notified fee schedule reflected an increase of around 8.5%, the official maintained that the anomaly would be rectified. “The hike will be corrected from 8.5% to 5% by Monday,” the official said.
Punjab health minister Dr Balbir Singh did not immediately respond to calls and text messages for his comments on fee hike.
RDA opposes fee hike
The Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) has condemned the steep increase in MBBS tuition fees, saying that the escalating costs are transforming medical education from a merit-based system into an exclusive privilege.
Leading the opposition, RDA Patiala vice-president Dr Arnold Roy said becoming a doctor is built on sleepless nights, borrowed money and lifelong savings for many families, rather than bought with privilege. He said that a steep fee hike turns this dream into an immense financial burden and declared that education must empower Punjab’s youth, not price them out.
Punjab has the fewest govt medical colleges in region
The fee revision assumes significance as Punjab continues to lag behind neighbouring states in government medical infrastructure.
According to the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) MBBS seat matrix for the 2026-27 academic session, Punjab has only five government medical colleges, the lowest among neighbouring states.
Rajasthan leads with 33 government medical colleges, followed by Delhi and Haryana with eight each, while Himachal Pradesh has six.
In contrast, the state has seven private medical colleges, where tuition fees are substantially higher, making government institutions the only affordable option for many students.
New govt medical college only by 2028
Although the Punjab government has announced plans to expand medical education infrastructure, the first new government medical college is expected to become operational only by 2028 at Hoshiarpur, where the district hospital is being upgraded into a medical college under a 60:40 funding pattern between the Centre and the state government.