Deemed-university tag hikes NEET PG fees by 1,471%; Round 1 allotment Oct 24

By TUF News Desk · Published 23 October 2026 · 4 min read

Fact-checked against 2+ independent sources · Editorial policy

Four private medical colleges in Tamil Nadu won deemed-university status from the Centre this year, and their postgraduate fees have since jumped by almost 16 times in some cases, according to an analysis by Careers360. The Medical Counselling Committee declares the NEET PG 2026 Round 1 seat allotment on October 24, so candidates will be locking choices against this new price list.

What changed in Tamil Nadu

Karpaga Vinayaga Institute of Medical Sciences in Kancheepuram, St. Peter’s Medical College in Hosur, Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Institute of Medical Sciences in Trichy and Srinivasan Medical College in Trichy received the deemed-to-be-university tag this year. The first two left The Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University, the state’s health sciences university; the other two shifted from state private university to deemed university status.

Their new fee structures list annual tuition of Rs 25 lakh to Rs 55 lakh for clinical branches and up to Rs 15 lakh for pre- and para-clinical streams. For comparison, the state fee fixation committee had set Rs 3.5 lakh a year for government-quota seats and Rs 3 lakh for non-clinical seats at these colleges, while management-quota seats stood at Rs 16 lakh and Rs 5 lakh. The Tamil Nadu government opposed the conversions, saying the colleges used “legal loopholes”, and has challenged them in the Madras High Court.

The national picture: 12 colleges past Rs 2 crore

Deemed universities in other states have raised fees too. Careers360 and medical education counsellor Muzaffar Khan reviewed over 1,000 PG programmes at 54 deemed-university medical colleges and found 12 charging over Rs 2 crore in overall tuition for a three-year MD or MS programme. The figures cover cumulative three-year tuition plus one-time admission charges, but exclude hostel and mess. The costliest programme is MD Radiodiagnosis at Dr DY Patil Medical College, Navi Mumbai: Rs 2.61 crore after a 24% one-year hike. Its Kolhapur sister institute raised its MS OB-GYN fee by Rs 27 lakh, a 29% increase over Rs 93.3 lakh last year. Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College in Pune increased fees by 20% across most clinical courses, with dermatology and radiodiagnosis now priced at Rs 1.69 crore.

Nearly a third of the programmes reviewed recorded a hike this year. The share costing over Rs 1 crore rose from 34% to more than 39%, and 23 programmes at 12 institutes crossed Rs 2 crore, one more than last year. Dermatology and radiodiagnosis remain the costliest branches, while pre-clinical subjects like anatomy and biochemistry are free at several institutions.

Why the fee cap argument is back

Muzaffar Khan points to a law that already exists but is barely enforced. “The National Medical Commission Act provides for regulating fees at 50% of the private and deemed medical college seats, but the regulator is yet to take a concerted effort in enforcing this provision,” he said. The NMC’s 2022 fee guidelines never took effect after a legal challenge from the institutes.

On the UG side, 837 MBBS seats went unallotted nationwide after the final NEET UG 2026 counselling, 824 of them in 14 deemed universities in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, where annual tuition of Rs 25 to 35 lakh priced candidates out.

What candidates should do before allotment

Check the fee structure of every college on your preference list before the October 24 allotment, along with the cut-off. Some institutes raise fees annually by 2.5% to 10%, so budget for more than the seat-matrix figure. Our guides on choosing a university in India and scholarships cover fee comparisons and funding options. Register on the MCC official counselling portal to track your Round 1 result and the reporting window.

Frequently asked questions

How much have NEET PG 2026 fees risen at the newly deemed universities in Tamil Nadu?

The four Tamil Nadu colleges that gained deemed-university status this year now charge Rs 25 to 55 lakh a year in tuition for clinical branches, against Rs 3.5 lakh fixed earlier for government-quota seats, a rise of up to 1,471%.

Which is the costliest PG medical course this year?

MD Radiodiagnosis at Dr DY Patil Medical College, Navi Mumbai: Rs 2.61 crore after a 24% one-year hike.

When is the NEET PG 2026 Round 1 seat allotment?

October 24, 2026, on the MCC’s official counselling portal.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: Careers360, The Indian Express, The Times of India