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The Karnataka government had earlier announced the establishment of two new medical colleges in Ramanagara and Kanakapura taluks of Bengaluru South district. However, there is uncertainty on the proposed medical college in Ramanagara, as the State Cabinet has given approval only to the medical college to be set up in Kanakapura. In a recent Cabinet meeting , the State government gave administrative approval to Kanakapura Medical College with an autonomous status and 150 undergraduate (MBBS) seats. The project, to be undertaken at a cost of about ₹550 crore, will include a medical college, a 300-bed hospital, hostels for boys and girls, quarters for teaching and non-teaching staff, and other facilities. The entire cost of the project will be borne by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS). Plans for the establishment of a government medical college in Kanakapura have seen many political twists. The previous BJP government shifted the medical college, which was earlier sanctioned for Kanakapura, to Chikkaballapur. However, the Congress government has been making continuous efforts to set up a government medical college in Kanakapura, the home turf of Deputy Chief Minsiter D.K. Shivakumar. The college, which was to be built on the RGUHS-proposed campus in Ramanagara, was transferred to Kanakapura by the government in 2023-24. However, in the wake of strong opposition from the public, the State government announced that it would set up two government medical colleges seperately in Ramanagara and Kanakapura. After deciding to establish the medical colleges in Ramanagara in collaboration with the district hospital and in Kanakapura in collaboration with the taluk hospital, the government submitted a proposal to the National Medical Commission (NMC). However, the government’s proposal was rejected owing to lack of infrastructure and non-appointment of teaching and non-teaching staff in 2024-25. In 2025-26, a request was submitted to set up the proposed colleges without appointing the required number of teaching staff — the NMC rejected the proposal yet again. Following this setback, the State government took the decision of setting up a medical college with autonomous status only in Kanakapura.. ‘At least two years’ Speaking to The Hindu, Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil said, “Tenders will be called soon and the construction work will start. The work will take at least two years to complete. After that, a proposal will be submitted to the NMC seeking approval for the start of operations at the college.” Further, Dr. Patil stated that as the taluk hospital in Kanakapura does not have a 300-bed capacity, a medical college cannot be set up in collaboration with this hospital. “Therefore, the college will open only after both the college and hospital buildings are completed,” he added. Plans for Ramanagara “The proposal to start a medical college in Ramanagara was rejected thrice due to lack of staff recruitment and necessary infrastructure. Construction work on the new campus of RGUHS in Ramanagara is already in full swing, and the medical college will be ready by January 2026. We will recruit the necessary staff and open the medical college in Ramanagara next year in collaboration with the district hospital,” Dr. Patil added. The government has taken steps to set up a new medical college in Bagalkote as well, the Minister said. “A proposal will be submitted to the NMC next year in this regard. In addition, as announced in the budget for 2025-26, a decision has been taken to build mental health hospitals on the model of NIMHANS in Mysuru and Kalaburagi at a cost of ₹100 crore each, and administrative approval for the same will be sought in the next Cabinet meeting,” Dr. Patil stated.
