Punjab MBBS fee hike 2026: Tuition cost up 8.5%, students to pay Rs 85,000 extra
Punjab MBBS fee hike 2026: Students seeking admission to MBBS courses in Punjab’s government medical colleges will have to pay more from the 2026-27 academic session, with the state government revising the tuition fee structure by around 8.5%.
The revised fee will increase the total tuition cost of the five-and-a-half-year MBBS course from Rs 9.98 lakh to Rs 10.83 lakh, adding nearly
Rs 85,000 to the overall cost of medical education.
As per the revised fee structure, the first-year tuition fee has been increased from Rs 1.92 lakh to Rs 2.02 lakh. The fee for the second year has gone up from Rs 2.11 lakh to Rs 2.22 lakh.
For third-year students, the fee will now be Rs 2.44 lakh, compared with Rs 2.29 lakh earlier. The fourth-year fee has also been raised from Rs 2.49 lakh to Rs 2.68 lakh.
The sharpest increase has been announced for the final six months of the course. The fee for this period has risen from Rs 1.17 lakh to Rs 1.47 lakh, an increase of Rs 30,000.
With these revisions, the total tuition fee for the complete MBBS course will rise from Rs 9.98 lakh to Rs 10.83 lakh.
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The revised fee structure will apply to students admitted through the Punjab NEET-UG counselling process for the 2026-27 academic session.
Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, conducts counselling in Punjab for admission to MBBS and BDS courses offered by medical and dental colleges across the state.
Candidates qualifying for NEET-UG can seek admission under different categories, including the state quota, government quota, management quota, minority quota and NRI quota.
Under the existing admission arrangement, 85% of MBBS seats in government medical colleges are filled through Punjab state counselling conducted by BFUHS. The remaining 15% are allotted through the All India Quota.
The Punjab medical education department has defended the increase, saying it is part of the annual fee revision mechanism introduced through a notification issued in 2020 by the then Congress government.
The department said the decision to increase tuition fees every year was taken by the previous government.
However, officials noted that the recently notified fee structure reflects an increase of around 8.5%. The annual hike was supposed to be 5%, and the discrepancy is expected to be corrected by Monday.
The fee hike has drawn opposition from the Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA), which has raised concerns over the rising cost of medical education.
The fee revision comes at a time when Punjab has one of the lowest numbers of government medical colleges among neighbouring states.
According to the National Medical Commission’s MBBS seat matrix for the 2026 academic session, Punjab has only five government medical colleges, the lowest number among several neighbouring states.
Rajasthan has 33 government medical colleges, while Delhi and Haryana have eight each. Himachal Pradesh has six.
Punjab also has seven private medical colleges, but tuition fees at these institutions are considerably higher. Government medical colleges therefore remain the more affordable option for many students.
The Punjab government has announced plans to expand medical education infrastructure in the state. The first new government medical college under the expansion plan is expected to become operational by 2028 in Hoshiarpur. The existing district hospital is being upgraded into a medical college under a 60:40 funding arrangement between the Centre and the state government.
The expansion is expected to increase the number of government medical seats in Punjab, although the state continues to have fewer government medical colleges compared with several neighbouring states.
- With inputs from agencies
