Industry
Union Budget 2025-26
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for the financial year 2025-26 in the Lok Sabha on February 1, 2025.
An allocation of ₹99858.56 crore has been made for healthcare in FY26, a rise of 9.78 percent. The corresponding figure was ₹90,958.63 crore in FY25. The government also allocated ₹9,406 crore for the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), and ₹4,200 crore for the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PMABHIM).
The National Health Mission (NHM) has been allocated ₹37,226.92 crore, the National Tele Mental Health Programme ₹79.6 crore, and ₹340.11 crore have been earmarked for the National Digital Health Mission.
Autonomous bodies have been allocated ₹20,046.07 crore. The allocation for All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, was increased to ₹5,200 crore. The ICMR has been earmarked ₹3,125.50 crore.
The Budget allocation for the AYUSH ministry has been hiked from ₹3,000 crore to ₹3,712.49 crore, recording a 23.74 percent increase.
The government will establish 200 cancer centers in FY26. And facilitate the setting up daycare cancer centers in all district hospitals in the next three years. In the following year, 10,000 additional seats will be added in medical colleges and hospitals toward the goal of adding 75,000 seats in the next five years–almost 110,000 undergraduate and postgraduate medical education seats in 10 years, an increase of 130 percent.
The government has made a ₹20,000 crore for medical tourism and eased the visa process under the ‘Heal in India’ initiative.
36 life-saving drugs have been exempted from basic customs duty. These drugs include essential medicines used to treat cancer and other rare diseases. The government proposes to add 6 lifesaving medicines to the list. The government proposes to add 37 more medicines along with 13 new patient assistance programs.
The government has proposed changes in the basic customs duty for x-ray tubes and flat panel detectors for use in medical x-ray machines under the phased manufacturing program to synchronize them to domestic capacity addition.
The allocation for schemes to promote medical devices manufacturing has been increased from ₹3300 crore in FY25 to ₹5200 crore in FY26.
Responses to Union Budget
After the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha on February 1, 2025, responses streamed in from industry leaders and business thinkers.
JP Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare
The Union Budget strengthens India’s healthcare sector with an allocation of ₹99,858.56 crore, marking a 191 percent increase from ₹34,286 crore in 2014-15 and a 9.78 percent rise from ₹90,958.63 crore in 2024-25.
P Chidambaram, former Union Minister of Finance
On the expenditure side, the healthcare budget has been cut by ₹1255 crore from last year.
Abhay Soi, President, NATHEALTH & CMD, Max Healthcare
The Union Budget marks a significant milestone for the healthcare sector, with its central focus on Public-Private Partnerships and ease of business. It also underscores the crucial role of private sector collaboration in making healthcare a foundational pillar of Viksit Bharat.
Ameera Shah, Promoter and Executive Chairperson, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd.
To establish India as a global healthcare leader, greater emphasis on innovation in diagnostics is essential. Advancing precision medicine, strengthening preventive care, and improving access to diagnostic testing will accelerate progress.
Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator, Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD)
We were hoping to see the FM speak about medical devices as make-in-India enablers and address the 70 percent import dependence due to inadequate tariff protection with duties at zero to 7.5 percent in most cases and ever-rising imports bill that is expected to cross ₹75000 crore this year.
Pavan Choudary, Chairman, Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI)
The budget is well-informed and thoughtfully attuned to current needs. We are reading the fine print and hope to see some reductions in customs duties on medical devices which are not import substitutable in the near term.
