191 MBBS seats left vacant in Karnataka after 7 counselling rounds

By TUF News Desk · Published 27 October 2026 · 3 min read

Fact-checked against 2+ independent sources · Editorial policy

After seven rounds of counselling, 191 MBBS seats in Karnataka still have no students. The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has now closed admissions for medical and dental courses for the 2026 academic year, leaving those seats empty until the next cycle. It is the first time in five years that medical seats in the state have gone vacant.

The gap opened up earlier in the process. After the third round of allotment, 656 seats were still vacant, a figure that pushed KEA to run an extended stray vacancy round. Even after that extra round, 191 seats remained. Students allotted seats in the final rounds had to report to their colleges by Monday, October 26, and KEA kept allotting seats until 6 pm that day to avoid further waste.

Why the seats stayed empty

Officials and experts point to price. Last year the state introduced a 15% NRI quota in government medical colleges, with each seat costing Rs 25 lakh. This year that quota was extended to all government medical colleges. Of the 4,600 seats at the state’s 25 government medical colleges, 690 are now under the NRI quota.

That changed the calculation for families weighing a private college. Management quota seats at private institutions cost between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 45 lakh a year, well above the NRI seats at government colleges. All 191 vacant seats are management quota seats at private medical colleges.

The empty seats carry a cost for colleges too. KEA data puts the loss at more than Rs 10 crore a year for some colleges. Since fees for this year have to be paid through KEA, colleges cannot offer discounts now. Some are instead promising lower fees from next year, a KEA official said.

The choice-filling problem

Choice filling caused its own trouble. In the second extended round, 180 students entered options, and only 20 received seats. A KEA official said some students lost out because they filled choices on agents’ advice, with agents steering them only toward colleges they were tied to. The official’s advice was simple: fill options according to your rank, since that is what gives a candidate a real chance at a seat.

The scale of the closure

Karnataka has 76 medical colleges, 25 government and 51 private, offering 15,745 seats in total, the largest medical seat pool in the country. Dental seats tell a different story: every dental seat was filled. Karnataka’s private higher education sector also includes large institutions such as the Manipal Academy of Higher Education in Manipal.

For students aiming at the next cycle, the lesson is mostly about preparation before counselling starts: knowing the fee for each quota, ranking choices by rank rather than by who suggests them, and keeping documents ready. Our guide on how to choose a university in India covers fees and location, and the admission documents checklist covers the paperwork colleges ask for at reporting. Allotment details remain on the official KEA portal.

Frequently asked questions

Is Karnataka NEET UG counselling for 2026 closed?

Yes. The Karnataka Examinations Authority has closed medical and dental admissions for the 2026 academic year after seven rounds of counselling.

How many MBBS seats are vacant in Karnataka?

191 MBBS seats are vacant. All of them are management quota seats at private medical colleges.

Why did so many MBBS seats go vacant?

Officials cite the 15% NRI quota at government colleges, priced at Rs 25 lakh, against private management quota fees of Rs 30 lakh to Rs 45 lakh a year. The cheaper government option drew demand away from private management seats.

Where can students check KEA allotment results?

On the official KEA portal, under the UGNEET 2026 section.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: Deccan Herald, Jagran Josh