Puducherry CENTAC MDS 2026: Final Merit List Published, One College's Seats Temporarily Withheld

CENTAC, Puducherry's Centralised Admission Committee, has published the Final Merit List for PG Dental (MDS) courses for 2026-27, along with a specific update that candidates need to factor into their Round 1 course preferences: seat allotment for one particular institution has been temporarily paused pending further orders.

What's Confirmed

Per CENTAC's notice dated September 4, 2026:

• Final Merit List for MDS courses: published under Government, Management, Management (Telugu Minority), and NRI Quota on www.centacpuducherry.in, based on the cutoff marks prescribed in NEET MDS 2026

• Special category lists: also published specifically for UT of Puducherry candidates under Meritorious Sports Person, Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD), Freedom Fighter, and Ex-Servicemen categories

• Verification status: available directly on each candidate's login dashboard

A Specific College's Seats Are On Hold

This is the detail that genuinely matters for Round 1 planning. Following communication from the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare Services, Government of Puducherry, counselling and seat allotment through CENTAC have been temporarily withheld for MDS courses at Sri Venkateshwaraa Dental College, pending further orders from the competent authorities. CENTAC hasn't specified when this will be resolved, only that it's paused for now. If this institution was on your radar, it's worth treating it as unavailable for the current round rather than building your preference list around an assumption that it will open up in time.

Submission of Course Preferences: A Firm, Short Deadline

Because of this development, candidates have been given an opportunity to update their Round 1 course preferences — but the window is tight:

• Deadline to update preferences: September 5, 2026, 1:00 PM

• Critical warning: candidates whose course preferences are left empty will not be considered for allotment at all

That second point deserves particular attention. This isn't a case where an incomplete submission simply limits your options — leaving preferences blank removes you from allotment consideration entirely for this round. Even if Sri Venkateshwaraa Dental College's situation affects your original plan, submitting a revised but complete preference list matters more than leaving it empty while you wait to see how that specific college's status resolves.

Why This Update Matters Even If You Weren't Considering That College

Even candidates with no interest in Sri Venkateshwaraa Dental College should treat this as a prompt to revisit their submitted preferences before the September 5 deadline. Verification statuses have also just become visible on candidate dashboards alongside this merit list — it's worth checking yours now, since any discrepancy is easier to address before Round 1 allotment than after.

How This Connects to Puducherry's Broader Counselling Picture

CENTAC has had an eventful cycle this season. An earlier notice addressed candidates who held both a CENTAC Government Quota allotment and a JIPMER seat under the Internal – Puducherry UT Domicile quota, requiring an active opt-in with a caution deposit for anyone wanting to stay with CENTAC instead of JIPMER. This MDS-specific update is a separate development, but it reflects the same broader pattern — Puducherry's counselling process has had more mid-cycle adjustments than a typical smooth single-notice cycle, making it worth checking the CENTAC website and your dashboard frequently rather than relying on a single notice as the final word.

Comparing MDS Processes Across States

Puducherry's MDS admission runs independently of every other state's process. If you're weighing options elsewhere, Tamil Nadu's own MDS seat matrix and Round 1 schedule, MCC's national MDS counselling, West Bengal's MDS Round 1 choice filling, and Jammu & Kashmir's NEET MDS choice-filling schedule are all running on their own independent timelines this same season, each with their own state-specific quirks worth understanding on their own terms.

What to Do Right Now

Log into your CENTAC dashboard and check your verification status alongside your position on the Final Merit List. If Sri Venkateshwaraa Dental College was part of your plan, revise your preferences to reflect realistic alternatives rather than waiting on an unresolved timeline. Regardless of whether your preferences need updating, confirm your submitted list isn't empty before the September 5, 1:00 PM deadline — this single check protects you from the harshest possible outcome this round, being excluded from allotment altogether.

Key Things to Remember

CENTAC has published the Final MDS Merit List for 2026-27 across Government, Management, Management (Telugu Minority), and NRI Quota, alongside special category lists for Puducherry UT candidates. Seat allotment for Sri Venkateshwaraa Dental College is temporarily withheld pending further government orders, prompting a short window — until September 5, 1:00 PM — for candidates to update Round 1 course preferences. Leaving preferences empty removes a candidate from allotment consideration entirely, making this deadline worth acting on regardless of whether the withheld college affects your own plans.

This information is based on CENTAC's official notice, Ref. No. CENTAC/UG-NEET/2026/06, dated September 4, 2026. Always verify your specific status and complete any required action directly at www.centacpuducherry.in, or through the Grievances option on your dashboard, or the helpline at 0413-2655570/2655571.