Maharashtra: MAFSU Nagpur gets first pvt veterinary, dairy technology colleges, doubles BVSc & AH seats

Maharashtra students aspiring to pursue veterinary sciences and dairy technology will have nearly twice as many BVSc and AH seats available in 2026 as last year, as the state, for the first time, got private self-financed colleges in these disciplines.

However, the added opportunities have come at a cost. The admission process at the new institutes, as well as the existing government-funded colleges for the two agricultural streams, for the academic year 2026-27 has been delayed by almost three months as the state government and the Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University (MAFSU) Nagpur, the affiliating university for these programmes , due to fee fixation and administrative hurdles.

The establishment of five privately-run veterinary and three dairy technology colleges was made possible thanks to a 2023 amendment to MAFSU Act 1998, the law governing the university. The change provided for setting up affiliated colleges, including private unaided ones, under the university. Until now, the state varsity only had its own constituent colleges – including six veterinary science and two each for dairy technology and fishery sciences. The state has had private agricultural colleges , though, since the early 2000s.

BVSc and AH: 600 more seats

The new veterinary colleges, listed below, will each start with 80 seats of Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry (BVSc & AH), while the dairy technology institutes will each offer 40 spots for the BTech Dairy Technology course, increasing the overall intake capacity by 400 and 120, respectively.

The six government veterinary and animal science institutes, located in Mumbai, Nagpur, Parbhani, Shirwal (Satara), Udgir (Latur) and Akola, cumulatively admit 464 undergraduate candidates and are awaiting government approval for 71 more seats. The two existing dairy colleges, in Warud (Pusad) and Udgir, have 80 UG seats between them.

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The admission to BVSc & AH is carried out through the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET UG) , while the dairy technology candidates are enrolled on the basis of their scores in Maharashtra Common Entrance Test’s (MHT CET) Physics-Chemistry-Mathematics (PCM) scores and the Common University Entrance Test (for the Indian Council of Agricultural Research Undergraduate programmes or CUET (ICAR UG).

New self-financed colleges under MAFSU Nagpur

• Yashodeep Veterinary College, Saralgaon, Thane

• Tatyasaheb Kore Institute of Veterinary and Animal Science, Warananagar, Kolhapur

• Parikrama Veterinary Science College, Kashti, Ahilyanagar

• Shri Siddhagiri College of Veterinary Science, Kaneri, Kolhapur

• Dr Rajendra Suryawanshi College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Gandheli, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

• Late Shaktikumar Sancheti Dairy Technology College, Buldhana

• Prof Prataprao Borade Dairy Technology College, Gandheli, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

• Aditya Dairy Technology College, Beed

VCI hurdle before new veterinary colleges

While several educational organisations have been seeking to start veterinary colleges in Maharashtra, fulfilling the stringent norms of the Veterinary Council of India (VCI), the apex national regulator for the veterinary profession and education, proved to be an arduous task. In fact, one of the proposed colleges in Wadala (Solapur) was denied recommendation by VCI despite a request for reconsideration from the central government and a reference letter from the union minister Nitin Gadkari, show the records of a council meeting held in June.

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“We have been trying to set up our college since last year but were told that we’re not up to the mark. We finally got the approval after putting everything required in place. It’s almost akin to setting up a medical college,” said Vilas Karjinni, CEO, Shree Warana Vibhag Shikshan Mandal, the sponsoring body of the new vet college in Warananagar.

While most of the new colleges obtained the requisite permissions from MAFSU, the state government and VCI a few months ago, they are yet to begin admitting the students.

Conflict over course fee, admission delay

According to university and college officials, the delay was owed to an indecisiveness regarding the fee fixation norms for the self-financed colleges. While the tuition fees of all unaided professional courses in the state are generally decided by the state Fee Regulating Authority (FRA) using an expenditure-based model, for the private veterinary and dairy colleges, the process proved to be more complex due to their two types of seats – 50% university quota and 50% management quota.

The former are predominantly meant for students from specific regions in the state, the latter are open to candidates from across the state and country.

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FRA eventually fixed an ‘ad-hoc’ tuition fee for the new courses – Rs 5.5 lakh per annum for BVSc & AH and Rs 1 lakh for BTech (DT). While the amounts decided by the authority for private institutes are significantly higher than the Rs 27,500 charged for the two programmes at the constituent colleges, the private institutions demanded that the fees for management quota seats should be three times as much as the regular fees, as is the norm for other professional courses . The FRA is yet to take a decision on it.

Upset with the “inordinate” delay in admissions, the colleges sought the government’s intervention. They feared that the students from Maharashtra would seek enrollment in the institutes in other states, where the counselling process began long ago.

“The delay is causing considerable uncertainty among aspiring students and their parents, who are awaiting an opportunity to apply for admission to the BVSc & AH programme… Early commencement of the admission process would also provide students with adequate time to make informed decisions regarding their academic future and avoid any further delay in the commencement of their professional education,” reads a letter by the management of the Saralgaon vet college.

MAFSU Nagpur: Impact on academic calendar

Following the plea, the state animal husbandry minister Pankaja Munde earlier this week met representatives of the colleges and directed the university to immediately commence the admission process. She also sought a clarification from FRA about fees. MAFSU finally published the admission prospectus for the two programmes on Thursday, with the online application process starting on Friday – almost three months later than last year’s commencement date of July 2.

This is likely to impact the academic calendar of the incoming batch of students. “We usually begin the classes by mid-August. It will now be a challenge to complete the mandatory 93-day term,” said Prashant Wasnik, head of the dairy engineering department at College of Dairy Technology, Udgir.

Veterinary science, dairy tech jobs growing

The delay notwithstanding, the animal science and dairy experts and academicians have welcomed the expansion of educational avenues in the state, claiming that the state’s farming sector is in an urgent need of more trained professionals. They point out that a recent advertisement for 2,795 Livestock Development Officer (LDO) vacancies in the Maharashtra Animal Husbandry Service drew fewer applications than the available posts – a rarity in the government recruitments.

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“With economic liberalisation, the animal husbandry sector has also opened up with transnational pacts being signed. The people have started understanding the scope for veterinarian practice, as it contributes to food security and safety. It’s linked to the needs of the common man, but the politicians aren’t aware of it. There are no proper facilities available for vets,” said Ajay Poharkar, president, Maharashtra State Veterinary Council.

Poharkar, however, expressed displeasure at the state councils not having a say in the setting up of new colleges. He also advocated having colleges dedicated to specific sets of animals – bovines, cats and dogs, and desert animals – instead of general institutes to provide a more appropriate training.

Shortage of vets

The experts said that, due to a paucity of qualified veterinarians, the farmers largely rely on under-trained Livestock Management and Dairy Production (LMDP) diploma holders, who are also in short supply despite more than 100 schools running this programme. “The government can't even find diploma holders. There’s a demand and supply mismatch. From small to large animals, we have a large volume of livestock. Vets can also earn well by treating pets like cats and dogs,” said Nanasaheb Yewale, director of the Saralgaon vet college.

Yewale said that they plan to offer free-of-cost care to the animals belonging to farmers through their college as part of hands-on training to their students.

While Maharashtra has traditionally been known for its large-scale milk production, the dairy sector is said to be growing further, thanks to the entry of multinational dairy corporations. “There are more opportunities for students. They usually get jobs in cooperative or private companies, but now they can also explore entrepreneurship. We have 100% placement at our institute, but the fate of the private institutes will depend on the kind of facilities they provide ,” said MR Patil, associate dean, College of Dairy Technology Udgir and dean of dairy technology at MAFSU.