19 years after Kalam's foundation, IIT Kharagpur finally gets medical seats

It took IIT Kharagpur nearly 19 years to move from a medical college dream to its first medical seats. The institute, which envisioned an MBBS college and super-speciality hospital in 2007, has finally entered formal postgraduate medical education. However, its original undergraduate medical education plan remains unfulfilled.A VISION THAT BEGAN WITH APJ ABDUL KALAM IN 2007

The foundation stone for the Dr B C Roy Multi-Speciality Medical Research Centre was laid by then President APJ Abdul Kalam on May 17, 2007.

The project was envisioned as more than a healthcare facility. It aimed to bring medical education, advanced treatment and research together within the IIT ecosystem.

By June 2015, the institute was still projecting the hospital as a stepping stone towards medical education. In an interaction, then director Partha Pratim Chakrabarti said the 400-bed super-speciality hospital would be ready by the end of 2017. He also confirmed that the institute had sought approval from the Medical Council of India to offer MBBS courses.

The director said technology would play a key role in healthcare delivery: "Technology will be used to access and treat large number of patients through satellite centres and secondary hospitals."MBBS PLANS ANNOUNCED, BUT NEVER TOOK OFF

The promise continued in October 2019. The then officiating director Professor Sriman Kumar Bhattacharyya confirmed that the MBBS programme would be rolled out for 50 students once the hospital became operational.

The plan also included expanding the hospital to 750 beds and increasing the MBBS intake to 100 students in the second phase. Postgraduate degrees were expected to follow.

However, the undergraduate programme never took off as projected. Infrastructure requirements and the need to develop adequate clinical and academic facilities delayed the plan.19 YEARS LATER, THE FIRST MEDICAL SEATS

In October 2025, the institute said it was preparing to launch postgraduate MD courses, while its MBBS proposal remained on hold because of infrastructure limitations.

The institute's School of Medical Science and Technology, established in 2001, has already been working at the intersection of medicine, engineering and technology.

The latest development takes this association a step further, with the institute finally securing its first recognised postgraduate medical degree seats.

The 12 MD seats across branches including general medicine, radiology, physiology, pathology, community medicine and biochemistry mark its entry into postgraduate medical education, 19 years after the project began in 2007. However, the plan to start an MBBS college alongside a super-speciality hospital remains pending.- EndsRead | Three IITs are building medical schools. The real target is not more doctorsRead | IIT Kanpur will soon offer super-speciality medical degrees. MBBS will have to wait