Union Budget 2025: Cancer drugs to get cheaper, special attention to women and child healthcare
Union Budget 2025: Cancer drugs to get cheaper, special attention to women and child healthcare
The government has allocated ₹99,858.56 crore for the Union Health Ministry in the Union Budget 2025-26 — ₹95,957.87 crore for the Department of Health and Family Welfare and ₹3,900.69 crore for the Department of Health Research. It is an increase from ₹89,974.12 crore allocated in the Budget (revised estimates) of 2024-2025.
The government has announced full exemption of 36 lifesaving drugs for treating cancer, rare diseases and chronic diseases from basic customs duty. This will make the drugs cheaper. It has also exempted 37 medicines along with 13 new drugs and medicines under Patient Assistance Programmes from the duty, when these are given free of cost to patients.
It has announced additional manpower creation and expanding its health assurance scheme Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) to include gig workers. The Budget, presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, also envisages enhanced care for women and child health through targeted interventions.
Significantly, 10,000 seats will be added in medical colleges next year towards the goal of adding 75,000 seats in the next five years.
The government has allocated ₹2,445 crore for Production Linked Incentive (PLI) for the pharmaceutical industry. AB PM-JAY has got an allocation of ₹9,406 crore. The government has allocated ₹4,200 crore for the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM).
Women and child healthcare has a budget allocation of ₹5,400 crore with key announcements including expanded maternal health programmes under PM Matru Vandana Yojana, increased funding for child nutrition and vaccinations and upgradation of more Anganwadi centres with digital tracking systems.
The government has allocated ₹37,226.92 crore to the National Health Mission (NHM). The National Tele Mental Health Programme has been allocated ₹79.6 crore.
“The Union Budget 2025-26 significantly invests in healthcare, allocating ₹99,858.56 Crore to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This represents a 191% increase since 2014-15, demonstrating the government’s commitment to improving the health and well-being of all citizens,” Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda posted on microblogging site X on Saturday following the announcement.
Discussing what the first look at the Budget means for the industry, Pavan Choudary, chairman, Medical Technology Association of India, said that the government’s initiatives, including the establishment of five major skill development centres, would help meet the target of 3,00,000 healthcare workers India aims to export annually.
Also, simplifying visa procedures for medical tourists is a timely priority to cope with the jolt that present global geo-political conditions, especially in Bangladesh, have dealt to the country’s medical tourism market. Overall, this cross-border flow of patients and healers will expand the market and create more proficient healthcare workers, he said.
B. S. Ajaikumar, executive chairman, Healthcare Global Enterprises Limited, said that custom duty exemption on life-saving drugs and medicines is a move in the right direction; however, the provisions need to be studied in detail to gauge the exact impact. “There was a strong need to include linear accelerators and other critical equipment in the list of custom duty exemptions,” he said.
While the government has announced to add day-care cancer centres in all district hospitals over the next three years, Mr. Ajaikumar questioned how the government will manage the manpower needs of the centres. “Cancer care can’t be rolled out like a normal day-care centre,” he warned.
Welcoming the announcement to add more number of medical seats, Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, MD & CEO, Fortis Healthcare, said the move is crucial to address the shortage of skilled professionals.
Saransh Chaudhary, president, Global Critical Care, Venus Remedies Ltd, and CEO, Venus Medicine Research Centres, said that the industry welcomes the strong push towards pharmaceutical research and development (R&D). However, he said, increasing the allocation beyond the current 1% of the GDP, raising the weighted tax deduction for R&D expenditure from 100% to 200%, and swiftly rolling out the Research Linked Incentive scheme are critical to fostering drug innovation.
“We urge the government to consider these priorities to further bolster research in India’s pharma industry and healthcare ecosystem,” he said.
