Guwahati, Dec 19 (IANS): Assam will have three new medical colleges, state Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday.

Addressing the media, he said the three medical college will be set up at Kokrajhar, Nalbari and Tinsukia in the next three years.

Each new medical college with 100 seats for medical education will have 500-bed capacity, he said.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will lay the foundation stone for the new colleges in January.

At present there are six medical colleges in Assam: Gauhati Medical College, Assam Medical College, Silchar Medical College, Tezpur Medical College, Jorhat Medical College and Barpeta Medical College. These six colleges together have 726 MBBS seats.

Apart from the three proposed colleges, four medical colleges are under construction at Dhubri, Lakhimpur, Nagaon and at Diphu, which will together have 400-student capacity.

After completion of all the medical colleges, Assam will have 1,426 seats for medical students, the minister said.