Panel flags India’s health research spend at just 0.02% of GDP

India’s investment in health research has remained critically low at 0.02% of GDP for the past five years, a Parliamentary Standing Committee has warned, flagging the stagnation as a structural weakness in the country’s medical and scientific preparedness.

The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, in its 173rd Report presented to Parliament in March 2026, called for a phased increase in health research expenditure to around 0.1% of GDP by the mid-2020s — a fivefold rise — to better align with global standards and build a more resilient biomedical research ecosystem.

The numbers underscore a sharp contrast with peer nations. The United States allocates approximately 0.17% of GDP to health research through the National Institutes of Health, the UK’s Medical Research Council commands the equivalent of 0.36% of its GDP, and Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council accounts for 0.07%. The committee specifically recommended that India benchmark its spending against leading Asian economies including China, South Korea and Japan — countries that have made health R&D central to their long-term competitiveness.

India’s Department of Health Research has been allocated ₹4,821 crore in the Union Budget 2026–27, of which ₹4,000 crore flows to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). While this represents a 42% increase over actual expenditure in 2024–25, the department’s share of India’s total R&D outlay remains just 7.6% — the lowest among all major research ministries.

The paradox is stark: India carries one of the world’s highest combined burdens of infectious and non-communicable disease, hosts a large generic pharmaceuticals industry, and aspires to lead in biotechnology and AI-driven healthcare — yet its public health research investment has barely moved in half a decade.

The committee’s report, timed to coincide with World Health Day, is seen as a pointed signal to policymakers that the gap between India’s health ambitions and its research funding commitments needs urgent bridging.

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MB Bureau