MUHS plans 865 new health colleges by 2032, including 51 for MBBS

The Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), Nashik, has drawn up a five-year perspective plan for 2027-32 that creates 865 slots for new undergraduate health science colleges across Maharashtra, according to reports published on October 28 and 29, 2026. The plan, approved by the university's senate in October 2026, sets aside 51 slots for new MBBS colleges and 60 for dental colleges, and puts its biggest push into allied health courses such as occupational therapy, audiology and prosthetics. The university has already invited applications from institutions for the 2027-28 academic year.

A perspective plan is the map a university uses to decide where new colleges may come up. In Maharashtra, an institution that wants to start a health science course and affiliate with MUHS has to fit into a slot in this plan. So the 2027-32 plan tells students, in advance, which courses are likely to grow and where in the state new seats could appear.

For students who sit the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) every year, the 51 MBBS slots are the headline. Medical seats remain the most sought-after in the country, and many Maharashtra students move to other states or abroad when they miss a government seat at home. New colleges in smaller towns could, over time, add seats closer to home. But the number of seats will depend on how many colleges actually apply, how many are approved, and how many seats each gets, none of which the plan fixes.

The bigger change is in allied health. Occupational therapy, audiology and speech-language pathology, and prosthetics and orthotics are degree courses that train the professionals who help patients recover movement, hearing, speech and daily function, and who make artificial limbs and supports. These are careers many students do not hear about at school. By planning hundreds of new colleges in these fields, the university is signalling where it sees demand for trained workers. Naturopathy and yogic sciences, a course in drug-free treatment methods that is part of the Ayush family, also gets 113 slots.

At the same time, the plan holds back on nursing, physiotherapy and Ayurveda, where reports say Maharashtra already has many colleges. For a student, that is a hint that these courses may face more competition for jobs in the state, while newer allied health fields may have fewer graduates for the openings that exist.

What should a student do next? Students in Classes 11 and 12 who are taking biology can look at the full list of MUHS courses, not only MBBS and BDS, and check which allied health degrees are offered near them today. Parents and students should verify any new college's affiliation status on the MUHS website before paying fees, because a slot in the plan is not the same as an approved college.

Short-term: Institutions can now apply for new colleges for the 2027-28 academic year within the zones and courses the plan allows. Students choosing subjects and courses this year will not see new seats immediately; the earliest new colleges would admit students in 2027.

Long-term: If many slots are used, Maharashtra's health education could grow sharply in smaller towns, especially in allied health courses. That could ease shortages of therapists and technicians outside big cities. It could also raise concerns about faculty and hospital capacity if too many colleges open at once, which is one reason the university says the plan will be revised every year.

Who is affected: NEET aspirants and Class 11-12 biology students in Maharashtra, people considering allied health careers, trusts and institutions planning to open colleges, and patients in districts that lack therapists and specialists.

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