Maharashtra pharmacy admissions end with 15,671 seats vacant of 47,192

By TUF News Desk · Published 31 October 2026 · 3 min read

Fact-checked against 2+ independent sources · Editorial policy

One in three pharmacy seats in Maharashtra stayed empty this year. The state’s Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell has closed admissions to first-year B.Pharmacy and Pharm.D courses for 2026-27 with 31,521 students admitted, against a total intake of 47,192 seats across 530 colleges. That leaves 15,671 seats unfilled.

The figures came in a CET Cell press statement issued from Mumbai on October 30, 2026. The admission process covered the four-year, full-time B.Pharmacy degree and the six-year, full-time Pharm.D course. Online registration for the two courses had opened on July 31, 2026, and closed on August 23, 2026.

How the seats filled

The bulk of admissions came through the four rounds of the Centralised Admission Process, known as CAP. Round 1 admitted 16,528 students, more than half of the final total. Round 2 added 7,283, round 3 added 2,895 and round 4 added 1,938.

Those four rounds together account for 28,644 admissions. The remaining 2,877 places were filled through later CAP, institutional and other quota admissions, taking the final figure to 31,521. The institutional round, in which colleges admit students directly to seats left vacant after the centralised rounds, ran from October 25 to October 29, 2026.

The pattern inside the rounds is worth noting. Each successive round admitted fewer students than the one before it, which is normal as the pool of unplaced candidates shrinks. Round 1 alone filled more seats than rounds 2, 3 and 4 combined, a reminder of how much weight the first preference list carries in a centralised process.

The vacant seats go back several years

The vacant seats are not new. Admissions in 2025-26 stood at 32,953, so this year’s total is 1,432 lower. The year before that, 31,827 students were admitted, and in 2023-24 the figure was 28,340. Careers360, reporting the CET Cell data, notes that nearly one-third of seats have gone empty since 2023-24.

This year’s vacant share works out to about 33 percent of the total intake, in line with that run. The numbers do not by themselves explain why seats stay empty. They do show that the gap is spread across the system rather than confined to a single round or a single college, since 530 colleges took part and the shortfall remained after four centralised rounds plus an institutional round.

For students, the practical point is about timing. The first round is where most seats are taken, and later rounds work with what is left. Our guide to choosing a university in India sets out the trade-offs to weigh before locking a preference order, and our admission documents checklist lists the papers colleges usually ask for at reporting. Both matter most before the first round, not after it.

Candidates tracking future Maharashtra admissions should follow the official admission portal, which carried the 2026-27 pharmacy admission process. The CET Cell’s October 30 statement closes the book on this year’s pharmacy intake: 31,521 admitted, 15,671 vacant, and no further round announced in the final figures.

Frequently asked questions

How many B.Pharmacy and Pharm.D seats were filled in Maharashtra for 2026-27?

31,521 students were admitted out of 47,192 seats across 530 pharmacy colleges, leaving 15,671 seats vacant.

How many seats were filled in each Maharashtra pharmacy CAP round?

Round 1 admitted 16,528 students, round 2 admitted 7,283, round 3 admitted 2,895 and round 4 admitted 1,938, with the remaining admissions coming through later CAP, institutional and other quota rounds.

Is Maharashtra pharmacy admission for 2026-27 still open?

No. The CET Cell released the final admission figures on October 30, 2026, after the four centralised rounds and the institutional round had closed.

How does the 2026-27 pharmacy admission figure compare with last year?

Admissions fell by 1,432 from 32,953 in 2025-26 to 31,521 in 2026-27.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: The Times of India, Careers360