MD Paediatrics Seats in India 2026: 4,893 Seats State-wise, Real Closing Ranks and What the Job Pays

India has 4,893 MD Paediatrics seats for 2026-27, according to the National Medical Commission's updated PG seat matrix. Karnataka has the most, with 680. If you searched for MD Paediatrics seats in India, that is the short answer, and the state-wise list is below.

The longer answer matters more for your choice list. Paediatrics (many students spell it pediatrics) was among the top four choices of the top-100 rankers in MCC Round 1 this year, and the last government Open seat in the All India Quota went at AIR 9,574. The MCC Round 2 result is due on 17 November 2026.

MD Paediatrics seats in India: the state-wise list for 2026-27

Medical Dialogues reported the branch count on 15 November 2026 from the NMC matrix, which lists 68,305 broad-speciality PG seats in all. Paediatrics holds about 7% of them, or roughly one seat in fourteen (our calculation).

The same publisher's earlier report on the earlier version of the matrix gave 4,203 seats. On those two reports, the updated matrix shows 690 more.

Source: NMC PG seat matrix 2026-27, as reported by Medical Dialogues (15 Nov 2026). Next come Kerala (178), Delhi (142), Odisha (119), Bihar (117), Puducherry (81), Haryana (66), Jammu & Kashmir (63), Punjab (55), Uttarakhand (54), Assam (48), Himachal Pradesh (47) and Chhattisgarh (42).

The top five states hold 2,534 seats, which is about 52% of the national total (our calculation). The top ten hold 3,801, or about 78%. Nine states and union territories have 13 seats or fewer.

For a student, this means domicile shapes your odds. A candidate from Karnataka or Tamil Nadu has a large state-quota pool. A candidate from Jharkhand (23 seats) or Goa (10) leans far more on the All India Quota, DNB and deemed seats. These figures are MD seats in medical colleges; DNB seats in hospitals are counted separately by NBEMS.

MD Paediatrics closing rank by seat type

We analysed MCC 2026 Round 1 allotments under the All India counselling. This is where Paediatrics seats went.

Source: Career Paathshala analysis of MCC 2026 Round 1 allotments. "Typical" is the middle allotted rank. For comparison, the last govt Open seat in the 2025 final round went to AIR 18,067.

Read the table carefully. The last rank is where seats ran out in one round. Half the government Open seats went to ranks better than about 4,800.

The cut-off also moves between rounds. In 2025 the final round reached 18,067, nearly double this year's Round 1 figure. That is last year's data and no promise for 2026, but a candidate at rank 12,000 should not drop government Paediatrics from the list on the Round 1 number alone.

The gap between government MD and DNB is also narrower here than in most branches. A typical DNB Paediatrics seat went near rank 12,000, inside last year's final government cut-off.

Residency reality: the NICU years

Paediatrics is not the lighter cousin of Medicine. Our database rates its residency intensity 5 out of 5.

Residents carry real critical-care responsibility early, in the neonatal and paediatric intensive care units. Dr Mayukh Hazra describes weeks of around 110 hours. HealthPil has cited an RTI reply showing 540 duty hours in a month at one new AIIMS. These are individual accounts, not national averages.

The work is emotionally heavy too. @drsakshi.lalwani cites surveys reporting about 50% burnout among paediatricians. Our counsellor handbook, drawing on Dr Mohit Sethi, notes that about half a paediatrician's time goes to counselling worried parents.

Night calls dominate the first seven to ten years of the career, then give way to mostly daytime clinic hours.

Karnataka

680

Tamil Nadu

521

Maharashtra

509

Uttar Pradesh

468

Telangana

356

Andhra Pradesh

321

Rajasthan

281

Gujarat

251

Madhya Pradesh

213

West Bengal

201

Values in seats

Total 4,893 seats; the top five states hold 2,534 (about 52%) and the top ten 3,801 (about 78%), our calculation. Source: NMC PG seat matrix 2026-27, as reported by Medical Dialogues, 15 Nov 2026.

MD Pediatrics salary: what doctors report

These are indicative monthly figures from doctors' accounts in our database. They are not promises.

Source: Career Paathshala database. Figures shared by Dr Nirmala BS (HealthPil), Dr Mohit Sethi and Dr Meenakshi Bothra (Nachiket Bhatia Show) and our counsellor handbook. Indicative only.

Smaller cities often pay a salaried paediatrician more than metros do. Dr Nirmala BS told HealthPil that post-MD pay in North India runs Rs 1.5-2 lakh in tier 1 cities and Rs 3-4.5 lakh in tier 3, with South India lower.

Hospital salaries plateau early. Our handbook's explanation is blunt: the branch has no high-ticket procedures like stents or joint replacements. The bigger incomes come from a settled clinic of your own or from a DM.

The money maths: a cheap clinic, and why doctors warn against a Rs 1 crore loan

Government seat. A typical first-year stipend of Rs 75,398 a month over 36 months comes to about Rs 27.1 lakh earned (75,398 x 36 = 27,14,328). Stipends vary widely by state, as our state-wise stipend comparison shows.

Deemed seat. A typical fee of about Rs 40 lakh a year is Rs 1.2 crore over three years, before hostel and other charges.

The loan. Borrow Rs 1 crore at 9% for 10 years and the EMI is about Rs 1.27 lakh a month (our calculation; your bank's rate and tenure will differ). A hospital paediatrician earning Rs 1.5-2.5 lakh would hand over half or more of that salary. See the full private PG seat loan and EMI maths.

Dr Mohit Sethi, on the Nachiket Bhatia Show, advises students never to take a loan of around Rs 1 crore for a private MD Paediatrics seat. His reasoning is the plateau above, plus the slow start of a new clinic.

The clinic. Here the branch is kind. A basic paediatric clinic costs Rs 5-6 lakh to set up, and an advanced one Rs 10-15 lakh. Keep a six-month buffer of Rs 5-7 lakh. Our handbook says a new clinic often earns Rs 0-50,000 a month for the first 12 to 24 months and breaks even around 18 to 24 months.

DM and fellowship options after MD Paediatrics

The idea that Paediatrics is a terminal branch is out of date. DM or DrNB options include Neonatology, Paediatric Cardiology, Neurology, Nephrology, Gastroenterology and Oncology, and there is an FNB in paediatric intensive care.

Two cautions. First, the ladder is narrow. Karthik MD, on YouTube, counted about 114 DM Neonatology seats nationally; we have not verified that figure against the current seat list.

Second, lifestyle differs by sub-speciality. Our handbook describes DM Paediatric Neurology as largely elective OPD work, while Neonatology and PICU mean round-the-clock dependence.

Apex private hospitals in Delhi and Mumbai now hire NICU and PICU leads only with a DM or fellowship. In tier 2 and 3 cities, a plain MD or DNB paediatrician can still do well.

Seat type	Seats analysed	Typical rank	Last rank
Govt MD, All India Quota, Open	177	4,815	9,574
DNB (3 years)	254	11,989	17,931
NBEMS diploma (2 years)	212	29,690	41,764
Deemed university (about Rs 40 lakh a year)	52	76,280	120,102

Best govt colleges closed near AIR 2,220. The 2025 final round for govt Open went to 18,067. Source: Career Paathshala analysis of MCC 2026 Round 1 allotments.

Is Paediatrics a good branch? Who should pick it

It suits you if you are patient and warm, like working with families, and feel energised, not frightened, by a NICU night. It also suits doctors who want their own clinic in a growing town: demand is steady, setup cost is low and AI risk is very low.

Avoid it if anxious parents drain you or you want a life without night calls. Medicolegal risk is high, especially in neonatal care.

One test from our database: do a NICU night shift during internship before you decide.

What this means for you

Rank under about 5,000. Government MD Paediatrics is within reach in the All India Quota, and you can choose by college. Dr Mohit Sethi's yardstick is footfall: 100 or more OPD patients a day, 30 to 40 inpatients, and a busy NICU and PICU.

Rank 5,000 to 18,000. You are in the zone where later rounds and DNB decide things. Keep government options in your list and rank busy DNB hospitals beside them. A busy DNB beats a quiet MD.

Rank 18,000 to 42,000. The NBEMS diploma (last rank 41,764 in Round 1) and your state quota are the realistic routes. Plan the post-diploma DNB from day one.

Considering a deemed or management seat. Run the loan maths first. At about Rs 40 lakh a year, the fee is hard to recover on a hospital salary.

Before you lock any seat, ask residents three questions. How many OPD patients and NICU admissions come in a day? How many night duties a month? Do residents get hands-on NICU procedures? Red flags are low footfall, no working NICU or PICU, and faculty leaving.

For how this year's top rankers chose, see what the toppers chose in Round 1. For a sister branch, read our MD Anaesthesiology report.

Data status

Seat numbers are from the NMC 2026-27 matrix as reported by Medical Dialogues on 15 November 2026. Ranks are MCC 2026 Round 1 unless marked 2025. Income, clinic and duty-hour figures are doctors' accounts from our database, credited above and indicative only. The DM Neonatology seat count is unverified.

Want the full Paediatrics report next to other branches? Open Know Your Branch, or book a counselling call before your next round of choices.

Change log: Published 15 Nov 2026

4,893

MD Paediatrics seats, NMC matrix 2026-27

AIR 9,574

Last govt Open seat, MCC 2026 Round 1

Rs 75,398

Typical govt first-year stipend a month

Rs 5-6 lakh

Basic clinic setup cost (indicative, doctors' accounts)

Sources: NMC seat matrix via Medical Dialogues (15 Nov 2026); MCC 2026 Round 1 analysed by Career Paathshala; Career Paathshala branch database.