The Chhattisgarh NEET counselling process 2026 is conducted by the Directorate of Medical Education (DME), Raipur, commonly abbreviated as CGDME. The directorate manages admission to approximately 15 medical colleges across the state, covering around 2,130-2,330 MBBS seats (excluding AIIMS Raipur, which fills its 125 seats through central counselling only).
Official website: cgdme.admissions.nic.in (counselling portal) and cgdme.in (institutional site)
How Chhattisgarh’s state merit rank works
CGDME does not use your NEET All India Rank directly for state quota allotment. Instead, the directorate generates a CG State Merit Rank by sorting all registered Chhattisgarh-domicile candidates by NEET score.
Your CG State Rank will be numerically lower than your AIR because the pool is restricted to CG applicants. A candidate with AIR 10,000 might receive CG State Rank 300 if only 299 registered CG candidates scored higher. Both ranks appear in allotment PDFs, but the CG State Rank determines your position in the counselling queue.
There is no separate state entrance exam. NEET is the sole basis for the state merit list.
Tie-breaking criteria
When two or more candidates have identical NEET scores, CGDME has not published state-specific tie-breaking rules. In the absence of a separate notification, the standard NEET tie-breaking order is expected to apply:
- Higher marks in Biology
- Higher marks in Chemistry
- Fewer incorrect answers (fewer negative marks)
- Older candidate (earlier date of birth)
If CG publishes its own tie-breaking criteria in the 2026 counselling notification, those will supersede this standard order. Check cgdme.admissions.nic.in for the official notification.
Who is eligible
You can participate in CG state quota counselling if you meet all of these conditions:
- Domicile: Permanent resident of Chhattisgarh with a domicile certificate issued by a competent authority (born in Chhattisgarh, or holding domicile status in the state)
- Age: At least 17 years as of December 31 of the admission year
- Academics: Class 12 with Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Biotechnology, and English from a recognized board
- NEET qualification: Minimum 50th percentile (General/EWS), 40th percentile (OBC/SC/ST), or 45th percentile (PwD)
Non-domicile candidates cannot apply for the 85% state quota seats. They may, however, apply for management quota and NRI quota seats in CG private colleges.
How to register for Chhattisgarh NEET counselling
- Register on cgdme.admissions.nic.in with your mobile number and email
- Pay the registration fee: Rs 2,000 (Rounds 1, 2, and Mop-Up) or Rs 1,000 (Stray Round). NRI applicants pay Rs 10,000. Some older sources report lower fees for SC/ST candidates; confirm the current fee from the CGDME notification for your year.
- Upload scanned copies of required documents: NEET scorecard, NEET admit card, Class 10 and 12 mark sheets, Chhattisgarh domicile certificate, caste/category certificate (if applicable), EWS certificate, Non-Creamy Layer certificate, PwD certificate, character certificate, income certificate (if applicable), passport-size photographs, Aadhaar card
- Complete document verification (online or at a designated centre)
- Fill choices (select preferred colleges and courses in order of preference)
- Lock choices before the deadline; locked choices cannot be changed
All certificates must be dated before the first scrutiny deadline. PwD certificates must come from the State Medical Board specifically.
Security deposit
In addition to the registration fee, candidates must pay a refundable security deposit:
| College type |
Deposit |
| Government medical/dental |
Rs 30,000 |
| Private medical |
Rs 2,00,000 |
| Private dental |
Rs 1,00,000 |
| Both govt and private in preference list |
Rs 2,00,000 |
The deposit is refunded if you are not allotted a seat or after all rounds are complete. It is forfeited if you receive an allotment but fail to report.
Round-by-round timeline
Chhattisgarh conducts four rounds of counselling, typically running from late July through November:
Round 1 (July-August)
Based on the 2025 cycle, registration opened in late July and ran through early August. Choice filling followed after the merit list was published (mid-August 2025). Allotment results came within a few days, with a reporting window of approximately five days.
Round 2 (September)
Fresh registration and choice filling opened in mid-September 2025. Candidates allotted seats in Round 1 could participate for an upgrade; if upgraded, the previous seat was released automatically. If not upgraded, the Round 1 seat was retained. Allotment results were published in late September.
Mop-Up Round (October-November)
Fills seats vacated after Rounds 1 and 2. Fresh choices are required from all participating candidates. In 2025, the mop-up allotment was published in early October with reporting through mid-October.
Stray Vacancy Round (November)
The final round for remaining unfilled seats. Only previously registered candidates are eligible. In 2025, the stray round allotment was published on November 29.
Exact dates shift each year based on NEET results and AIQ counselling schedule. Monitor cgdme.admissions.nic.in for official notifications.
Seat matrix and quota structure
Chhattisgarh’s seat distribution for MBBS:
- Government college seats: ~1,430 across 10 colleges1
- Private college seats: ~700-900 across 5 colleges (sources vary between years)
- 15% All India Quota (from government colleges): managed by MCC, open to all India candidates
- 85% State Quota (government colleges): reserved for CG domicile candidates, counselled by CGDME
- Private college state quota: ~42-43% of private seats, counselled by CGDME alongside government seats
- Management quota: ~42-43% of private seats, open to all states at regulated fees. Whether management quota fees differ from state quota fees in practice is unclear; some sources indicate both are governed by the state fee regulatory committee.
- NRI quota: ~15% of private seats
1: Some sources list 11 government colleges. The difference may reflect alternate names for the same institution in Durg (Chandulal Chandrakar Memorial vs “Government Medical College Durg”) or Jagdalpur (Late Baliram Kashyap Smriti vs “Shaheed Medical College”).
What happens after allotment
Once allotted a seat:
- Download your provisional allotment order from the portal
- Report to the allotted college with original documents within the specified deadline (typically 5-7 days)
- Pay the first-year tuition fee
- Complete admission formalities at the institute
Missing the reporting deadline results in automatic seat cancellation and forfeiture of your security deposit. This rule is strictly enforced.
If you are allotted a seat in Round 2 but do not join, your security deposit is forfeited. Candidates who joined in Round 1 can participate in Round 2 for an upgrade without risking their existing seat.
Chhattisgarh state quota vs AIQ counselling
|
CG state quota |
MCC All India Quota |
| Rank used |
CG State Merit Rank |
NEET AIR |
| Eligibility |
CG domicile only |
All India |
| Reservation |
SC 12%*, ST 32%, OBC 14%, EWS 10% |
SC 15%, ST 7.5%, OBC 27%, EWS 10% |
| ST reservation |
32% (CG is a tribal-majority state) |
7.5% |
| Female reservation |
30% horizontal |
None |
| Rounds |
4 (R1, R2, Mop-Up, Stray) |
3 (R1, R2, Mop-Up/Stray) |
| Conducting body |
CGDME, Raipur |
MCC (DGHS), New Delhi |
| Security deposit (govt) |
Rs 30,000 |
Rs 2,00,000 |
| Registration fee |
Rs 2,000 |
Rs 1,000 (General) / Rs 500 (SC/ST) |
| Private colleges |
Yes (state + mgmt + NRI) |
Only deemed/central universities |
*Some sources report CG’s SC reservation as 15% rather than 12%. See the category guide for a full discussion of this discrepancy.
The most striking difference is in tribal reservation. CG reserves 32% of state quota seats for ST candidates, while AIQ reserves only 7.5%. Conversely, OBC candidates get 27% reservation under AIQ compared to 14% in CG state counselling.