The National Medical Commission (NMC) has proposed doing away with the requirement of obtaining an Essentiality Certificate from the State government for establishing new medical colleges.
This marks a significant ease in the approval process, paving way for expansion of medical education avenues across the country.
The proposal is part of the draft Establishment of New Medical Institutions Assessment & Rating (Amendment) Regulations, 2026. It seeks to amend the Establishment of New Medical Institutions, Starting of New Medical Courses, Increase of Seats for Existing Courses and Assessment and Rating Regulations, 2023.
Under the existing 2023 regulations, applicants are required to submit an Essentiality Certificate (EC) issued by the concerned State government or Union Territory administration. In addition, a Consent of Affiliation (CoA) from a recognised university and several other documents were also required under existing regulations. The draft amendment proposes to delete the clause, affecting removing the requirement for the Essentiality Certificate.
The applicants, however, will continue to require a Consent of Affiliation (CoA) from a recognised university. The amended provision specifies that the CoA must be issued in the name of the applicant or the medical college. Consent must be issued in writing.
The Commission has also proposed deleting Clause 9(c) that makes documentary proof of the establishment of a corpus fund dedicated to the functioning of the new medical institution year after year mandatory.
Another clause has been revised to require a solvency certificate based on the last completed financial year. This is issued by a Chartered Accountant within 90 days prior to the last date of invitation of applications.
The NMC has proposed inserting Clause 9(k). This clause makes it mandatory for applicant institutions to have all prescribed infrastructure and statutory requirements complete at the time of application.
Temporary arrangements for hospital or college buildings will not be permitted. Applications from institutions with work-in-progress infrastructure will not be processed.
The proposed amendments are aimed at revising the documentation and eligibility requirements for establishing new medical colleges . Institutions must have complete infrastructure in place before seeking approval.
