Maharashtra NEET UG Counselling 2026: CET Cell adds new college to seat matrix at final stage

The Maharashtra State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell has listed 103 vacant MBBS and BDS seats in the third special stray vacancy round (SSVR 3) of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG 2026 counselling. The provisional Maharashtra NEET UG seat matrix includes 80 MBBS seats and 23 BDS seats across private medical and dental colleges and private university institutions.

A key addition to the Maharashtra MBBS seat matrix is the 50 seats at Ideal Institute of Medical Science, Wada, Palghar. The college's inclusion comes unusually late in the admission process, during the third special stray vacancy round, which is effectively the ninth round of admissions.

The college had received approval from the National Medical Commission (NMC) but was awaiting affiliation from the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), Nashik. The late addition could put candidates who have already enrolled in other courses at a disadvantage, as they may have limited scope to participate in the further admission process.

The Maharashtra NEET UG seat matrix lists 38 general category and 12 women category vacancies at Ideal Institute of Medical Science. However, allotment of these seats is subject to receipt of affiliation from MUHS Nashik or the respective council.

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The addition comes against the backdrop of delays in including newly established medical colleges in Maharashtra's NEET UG counselling process. Earlier, two new medical colleges — Mauli Medical College Hospital and Research Center, Buldhana, and Ideal Institute of Medical Science, Palghar — were awaiting inclusion in the state's Centralised Admission Process (CAP) 2026 despite being listed in the NMC's MBBS seat matrix.

The two colleges together accounted for 150 MBBS seats, including 50 at Ideal Institute and 100 at Mauli Medical College. Their delayed inclusion had raised questions about whether the seats would be made available during the ongoing admission process or carried forward to the next academic year.

The latest SSVR 3 matrix now lists 50 seats at Ideal Institute. Their addition at such a late stage may limit the opportunity for candidates who have already taken admission in other courses to consider these MBBS seats.

Maharashtra NEET UG Counselling: MBBS vacant seats

The college-wise breakup of the 80 vacant MBBS seats includes 66 seats in private medical colleges and 14 seats in private university institutions. Ideal Institute of Medical Science, Wada, accounts for the highest number of vacancies, with 50 seats.

Maharashtra NEET UG 2026: BDS vacant seats

The provisional matrix also lists 23 vacant BDS seats across three dental colleges. Of these, 20 seats are in a private university institution, while the remaining three are in private dental colleges.

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Maharashtra NEET UG Counselling 2026: Category-wise vacant seats

Category-wise, private medical and dental colleges account for 69 of the 103 vacant seats, while private university institutions have 34 vacancies. No vacant MBBS or BDS seats have been listed under government colleges.

The seat matrix is provisional, and the seat position may change based on information received from institutes, MUHS, NMC, DCI, courts or the state government. The CET Cell has stated that seats will be allotted after receipt of the required affiliation from MUHS Nashik or the respective council.