The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 September 2025 approved a landmark initiative to add 10,023 new medical seats across existing government colleges and hospitals in India, with a strategic investment of ₹15,034 crore over four years from 2025-26 to 2028-29. The approval covers 5,000 additional post-graduate seats and 5,023 new undergraduate MBBS seats, to be created by the end of the 2028-29 academic cycle. The investment is cost-shared, with the Union government contributing 68.5 per cent (₹10,303.20 crore) and the states contributing the remaining ₹4,731.30 crore, translating into an average investment of ₹1.5 crore per seat. This forms Phase-III of a Centrally Sponsored Scheme and is a step toward Prime Minister Modi's vision of adding 75,000 medical seats over the next five years. The initiative specifically uses existing infrastructure at government colleges and hospitals for faster rollout and better regional balance. India now has the highest number of medical colleges in the world at 808 in 2025-26, up from 387 in 2013-14, with 1,23,700 MBBS seats nationwide — a 127 per cent increase of 69,352 undergraduate seats and a 143 per cent increase with 43,041 new postgraduate seats added over the last decade. New 2025 regulations also allow experienced government specialists to become professors without the mandatory residency requirement. The scheme targets underserved rural and tribal communities and aims to strengthen Universal Health Coverage for India's 1.4 billion population.