Chhattisgarh NEET UG 2026: What the Round 1 MBBS Cutoff List Tells Aspirants

If you took part in Chhattisgarh's state NEET UG counselling this year, the Round 1 opening and closing rank list is the single most important document to study right now. The Directorate of Medical Education (DME), Chhattisgarh has put out the college-wise, category-wise, quota-wise cutoffs for the first round of MBBS seat allotment on its official counselling portal. These numbers tell you exactly where your rank stood against every seat that got filled, and they're the baseline for deciding whether to accept your allotment, wait for the next round, or explore other states. Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Medical College in Raipur emerged as the most contested government college in the state this round.

What DME Chhattisgarh released, and where to find it

The Directorate of Medical Education has published the Round 1 Opening Rank–Closing Rank (OR-CR) document for MBBS and BDS seats allotted in the state quota, covering all government medical colleges and both the government and management quotas of private colleges. This is available as a PDF on the official portal cgdme.in.

The document lists, for every college and every reservation category, the rank and NEET score of the first candidate allotted (opening) and the last candidate allotted (closing). This is the standard format used by every state counselling authority, and learning to read it correctly is a basic but essential counselling skill.

Round 1 government college cutoffs at a glance

Among government medical colleges, the Unreserved (UR) category cutoffs ranged widely depending on how well-established and how centrally located the college is. The table below summarises the UR quota opening and closing figures for the ten government colleges listed in the Round 1 data.

Why Pt. JN Memorial Medical College, Raipur tops the list

Raipur's Pt. JN Memorial Medical College closed its Unreserved quota seats at State Rank 64 with a NEET score of 583, the tightest cutoff among all government colleges this round. This is consistent with how counselling tends to play out year after year: the oldest, most established government college in a state capital almost always draws the highest-ranked candidates first, because location, faculty reputation, and hospital infrastructure matter to aspirants choosing between colleges of similar fee structure.

CIMS Bilaspur followed as the second most competitive government college, closing at Rank 139 with a score of 564. The gap between these two and the rest of the list — several colleges closing between Rank 200 and Rank 600 — shows that a meaningful number of MBBS seats in Chhattisgarly were still available to candidates well outside the state's top few hundred ranks.

Reserved categories and private colleges work differently

The closing ranks above are for the Unreserved category only. Chhattisgarh reserves 32% of state quota seats for ST candidates, 14% for OBC, and 12% for SC, and each of these categories has its own, generally more relaxed, opening and closing rank range within the same college. If you belong to a reserved category, checking only the UR row will give you a misleading picture — always locate your own category's row in the official OR-CR PDF.

Private medical colleges in the state have two separate cutoff tracks: one for seats filled through the government quota (typically at government-college-level fees) and another for the management quota (at private fee levels, usually with a wider rank band). A private college with a closing rank far below a government college's cutoff is not necessarily 'easier' to get into on merit — it may simply be that the management quota seat comes at a significantly higher fee.

What Chhattisgarh aspirants should do next

If you have been allotted a seat in Round 1, weigh it against your realistic chances of moving up in Round 2. Round 2 cutoffs in most state counselling processes drift lower (i.e., accept lower NEET scores) as higher-rank candidates vacate seats to join colleges they prefer more, but this is not guaranteed for every college — some seats, especially at colleges like Pt. JN Memorial Medical College, may see little to no rank movement.

If your rank sits comfortably above a college's Round 1 closing rank in your category, that seat is very likely secure and upgrading further should be considered carefully rather than assumed. If your rank is close to or just below a cutoff you wanted, keep an eye on the Round 2 schedule and any seat-freeze or seat-upgrade rules specific to Chhattisgarh's counselling process, since missing a deadline can mean losing the seat altogether.

• Download the official OR-CR PDF and locate your exact category and quota row, not just the UR figures.
• Note whether your allotted seat is government quota or management quota if it's a private college — fees differ substantially.
• Decide on accept/freeze/upgrade only after checking Round 2 eligibility rules on the state portal.
• Keep certificates and documents ready in case you need to report to a new college after a later round.

Frequently asked questions

Treat this Round 1 list as a planning tool, not a final verdict — cutoffs will shift in subsequent rounds as seats vacate. Check the official cgdme.in portal for your exact category and quota figures, and track the Round 2 schedule closely before making an accept, freeze, or upgrade decision.