The Bihar government is preparing to significantly expand medical education and healthcare infrastructure with the opening of two new government medical colleges in January 2026.
The colleges will be located in Mahua in Vaishali district and in Ara in Bhojpur district, each offering 100 MBBS seats annually and contributing to a total of 200 new undergraduate medical seats for the state. The addition is part of a broader push to increase access to medical training and address healthcare needs in underserved regions.
With the commencement of operations at the two new institutions, Bihar’s tally of government medical colleges will rise to 15. At present, the state has 13 medical colleges across 11 districts, marking a steady expansion in recent years.
Each new college will include a 500-bed hospital, with construction costs reported at around ₹500 crore for the Mahua facility and ₹543 crore for the Bhojpur (Ara) college. The institutions are being developed in accordance with National Medical Commission (NMC) standards and will feature key clinical departments such as general medicine, surgery, paediatrics, gynaecology and intensive care units, along with services including indoor and outdoor treatment, diagnostic testing and medicine distribution.
The campuses are also being equipped with demonstration rooms, museums, autopsy blocks and other essential academic facilities. Hostels for students and residential quarters for doctors and staff have been completed to support academic and clinical functions when the colleges become operational.
Bihar’s plan aligns with its broader goal to establish medical colleges in all remaining districts over the next five years, with construction underway in several locations including Siwan, Begusarai, Buxar and Madhubani. The expansion of medical colleges and beds is expected to not only increase training capacity for aspiring doctors but also improve access to tertiary healthcare services for local populations, reducing pressure on existing facilities and mitigating the need for patients to travel outside the state for treatment.
This initiative comes amid a wider national context of increasing MBBS seats and medical infrastructure, with regulatory processes under the NMC also inviting applications for new medical colleges and increased MBBS intake for the 2026-27 academic year.
