Maharashtra excludes 3 private colleges from NEET round 1 counselling; reserves 40% seats to domicile students

The Maharashtra State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell has allocated 40% of the seats to students with the domicile certificate, while the remaining 60% will be reserved for students from other states in the three medical colleges that have received private university status.

Moreover, the three private medical colleges have also been excluded from the first round of the state counselling seat matrix, triggering concerns with MBBS aspirants and parents over admission to medical colleges across the state.

The new private medical colleges in Maharashtra will be Dr Vithalrao Vikhe Patil Foundation’s Medical College, Ahilyanagar, NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences, Nagpur, and Ranjit Deshmukh Dental College and Research Centre, Nagpur.

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PIMS, VIMS Palghar medical colleges in Maharashtra

“The above-mentioned colleges shall participate in the subsequent admission round for MBBS/BDS degree courses for the Academic Year 2026–27, after completion of all necessary formalities for establishment of the respective private universities,” the official notice from the MAH CET cell.

The notice also stated that the candidates admitted to the three new private colleges will not be eligible for scholarship or fee reimbursement scheme of the Maharashtra government.

“The fees determined by the Fee Fixation Committee constituted by the respective private university shall be applicable to the concerned college,” it added.

Recently, Prakash Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Sangli has also converted its status from a charitable trust to a Section 8 company, following the steps of the Vedantaa Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS), Palghar, which was the only private college run by a private company.

In addition, the Maharashtra state has 85 UG medical colleges, including 43 government and 42 private colleges.

Around 29 are affiliated with the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) Nashik, which is a state public university, while the others are associated with deemed universities.