'Why are our medical colleges so expensive?': Sridhar Vembu says Vietnam offers same degree at Rs 4 lakh
The Economic Survey 2024-25 stated that high undergraduate medical fees continued to deny access to students from less privileged backgrounds
- Jul 24, 2025,
- Updated Jul 24, 2025 12:54 PM IST
Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu on Thursday questioned why India's medical education remains drastically more expensive than in Vietnam, despite both having comparable per capita GDPs, and called it "a shame" that Indian students must go abroad for affordable MBBS degrees.
"I recently came across Indian students going to Vietnam to study medicine and the colleges there charge them RS 4 lakh a year (about $4600) in fees. I am told the quality of education is good," he wrote on X.
Vemu said Vietnam's GDP per capita is about $4700, and India's southern states are at about the same level now or a bit below it. "The fees they charge foreign students are about the same as their per capita GDP, which makes sense. Why are our medical colleges so expensive compared to our per capita GDP?" he asked. "How is Vietnam able to offer lower-cost education to foreign students? It is a shame that Indian students have to go abroad to get an affordable medical education."
I recently came across Indian students going to Vietnam to study medicine and the colleges there charge them ₹4 lakh a year (about $4600) in fees. I am told the quality of education is good. Vietnam's GDP per capita is about $4700 and our southern states are at about the same…
Vembu's remarks come months after the Economic Survey 2024-25 stated that high undergraduate medical fees continued to deny access to students from less privileged backgrounds. Despite a surge in infrastructure-from 499 medical colleges in FY 2019 to 780 in FY 2025, and MBBS seats rising from 70,012 to 1,18,137-affordability remains elusive, the survey noted.
Fees for medical education, despite several measures, remain high – at Rs 60 lakh to Rs 1 crore or more in the private sector which holds 48 per cent of MBBS seats, the survey noted. "This highlights the opportunity to make medical education more accessible and affordable for all, particularly for those from less privileged backgrounds. By reducing the cost of medical education, we can contribute to lowering healthcare service costs. If universal coverage is the goal, prioritising cost and equity in medical education will be key to achieving it."
The consequence is that every year thousands of students go abroad to around 50 countries especially those with lower fees such as China, Russia, Ukraine, Philippines, Bangladesh. "Medical education abroad entails hardships of studying abroad and productive years of youth invested in repeated attempts at exams - the NEET-UG before taking admission, the Foreign Medical Graduates (FMG) Exam on completing the course and then complete compulsory internships of 12 months in India."
The survey further stated that the availability of opportunities for medical education appears to be geographically skewed, apparent from the fact that 51 per cent of undergraduate seats and 49 per cent of postgraduate seats are in the southern states. "Further, the availability is skewed in favour of urban areas with the urban to rural doctor density ratio being 3.8:1. These patterns tend to follow the pattern in availability of healthcare services in general."
Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu on Thursday questioned why India's medical education remains drastically more expensive than in Vietnam, despite both having comparable per capita GDPs, and called it "a shame" that Indian students must go abroad for affordable MBBS degrees.
"I recently came across Indian students going to Vietnam to study medicine and the colleges there charge them RS 4 lakh a year (about $4600) in fees. I am told the quality of education is good," he wrote on X.
Vemu said Vietnam's GDP per capita is about $4700, and India's southern states are at about the same level now or a bit below it. "The fees they charge foreign students are about the same as their per capita GDP, which makes sense. Why are our medical colleges so expensive compared to our per capita GDP?" he asked. "How is Vietnam able to offer lower-cost education to foreign students? It is a shame that Indian students have to go abroad to get an affordable medical education."
I recently came across Indian students going to Vietnam to study medicine and the colleges there charge them ₹4 lakh a year (about $4600) in fees. I am told the quality of education is good. Vietnam's GDP per capita is about $4700 and our southern states are at about the same…
Vembu's remarks come months after the Economic Survey 2024-25 stated that high undergraduate medical fees continued to deny access to students from less privileged backgrounds. Despite a surge in infrastructure-from 499 medical colleges in FY 2019 to 780 in FY 2025, and MBBS seats rising from 70,012 to 1,18,137-affordability remains elusive, the survey noted.
Fees for medical education, despite several measures, remain high – at Rs 60 lakh to Rs 1 crore or more in the private sector which holds 48 per cent of MBBS seats, the survey noted. "This highlights the opportunity to make medical education more accessible and affordable for all, particularly for those from less privileged backgrounds. By reducing the cost of medical education, we can contribute to lowering healthcare service costs. If universal coverage is the goal, prioritising cost and equity in medical education will be key to achieving it."
The consequence is that every year thousands of students go abroad to around 50 countries especially those with lower fees such as China, Russia, Ukraine, Philippines, Bangladesh. "Medical education abroad entails hardships of studying abroad and productive years of youth invested in repeated attempts at exams - the NEET-UG before taking admission, the Foreign Medical Graduates (FMG) Exam on completing the course and then complete compulsory internships of 12 months in India."
The survey further stated that the availability of opportunities for medical education appears to be geographically skewed, apparent from the fact that 51 per cent of undergraduate seats and 49 per cent of postgraduate seats are in the southern states. "Further, the availability is skewed in favour of urban areas with the urban to rural doctor density ratio being 3.8:1. These patterns tend to follow the pattern in availability of healthcare services in general."