India, Aug. 15 -- Cutoff marks for MBBS admissions in Maharashtra have fallen significantly this year, with the State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell attributing the slide to a tougher NEET paper and smoother seat approvals.

The CET Cell released the first merit list for 2025 on Thursday, showing the open-category cutoff for government medical colleges at 509 marks - down from 642 last year. In private unaided colleges, the cutoff dropped to 479 from 602.

The CET Cell is conducting admissions for 8,138 MBBS seats across 64 colleges in the state. Officials said the decline is evident in both government and private institutions.

While last year's higher cutoffs were partly due to an easier NEET paper, this year's exam - particularly its ...