New Delhi: As India prepares for the Union Budget 2026–27, healthcare leaders across hospitals, diagnostics and medical devices are urging the government to prioritise prevention-led care, infrastructure financing, domestic manufacturing and digital innovation to address the country’s growing disease burden and affordability challenges.
With non-communicable diseases (NCDs) projected to account for nearly 75 per cent of India’s morbidity and mortality by 2030, the sector believes the upcoming Budget presents a critical opportunity to reposition healthcare as national infrastructure aligned with the government’s Viksit Bharat vision.
Dr Azad Moopen, Founder and Chairman, Aster DM Healthcare, said, “With a population exceeding 1.4 billion and a rising prevalence of chronic conditions, pressures on India’s healthcare system are intensifying. Increasing healthcare spending closer to 5 per cent of GDP is essential to address infrastructure gaps, workforce shortages and affordability challenges, while building a more resilient and universal care framework aligned with India’s goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047.”
Highlighting recent reforms, he said GST 2.0 rolled out in 2025 reflected intent to improve healthcare affordability, particularly through exemptions on individual health and life insurance and reduced taxes on essential, life-saving medicines. The next phase of reform, he added, should focus on making preventive healthcare coverage more affordable to strengthen long-term system resilience.
Looking ahead to Budget 2026, Dr Moopen called for rationalised GST on advanced medical equipment and diagnostics, recalibrated customs duties on medical technologies, and streamlined regulatory pathways for digital health and research. He also underscored the need for targeted incentives to drive private investment in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, health start-ups and research-led enterprises to promote decentralised access. Preparing for demographic shifts by prioritising oncology services, AI-enabled diagnostics, geriatric and long-term care, workforce skilling and sustainable healthcare infrastructure should also be key focus areas, he said.Ameera Shah, President, NATHEALTH, and Promoter and Executive Chairperson, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd., said,”India must urgently move away from episodic care towards resilient, holistic healthcare systems anchored in prevention. She noted that the economic cost of NCDs is estimated at $6 trillion over the next decade, making early diagnosis and preventive care both a fiscal and public health imperative.”
Shah called for long-term affordable financing for healthcare infrastructure, creation of an NCD resilience fund through earmarking a portion of the health cess and CSR contributions, and expansion of quality diagnostics through a national network of NABL- and ISO-accredited reference laboratories. She also advocated tax deductions of up to ₹10,000 for preventive health check-ups linked to ABHA under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission to strengthen India’s digital health data ecosystem. Rationalisation of duties on high-end cancer radiation equipment and structured support for healthcare innovation and medical value travel under the Heal in India initiative were also among key expectations.
Hospital operators, meanwhile, are seeking higher public spending and targeted incentives to expand care beyond metros. Dr Rakesh Gupta, Chairman, Sarvodaya Hospital, said the Budget must address gaps in infrastructure, affordability and insurance coverage to protect citizens from catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditure. He called for long-term tax incentives for greenfield hospitals in tier-2 and tier-3 cities to promote balanced regional growth.
Dr Gupta also urged the government to remove import duties on life-saving medical devices not manufactured domestically, while simultaneously boosting tax incentives for R&D in indigenous technologies. To accelerate Atmanirbhar healthcare, he emphasised the need for stronger production-linked incentives for APIs, stents and implants, a dedicated MedTech investment platform, and expansion of government-backed insurance schemes.
MedTech manufacturers echoed concerns around cost structures and competitiveness. Himanshu Baid, Managing Director, Poly Medicure Ltd., pointed to the inverted GST duty structure, where finished medical devices attract 5 per cent tax while inputs are taxed at 18 per cent, leading to working capital pressures. He called for aligning job-work GST rates for medical devices with pharmaceuticals and revising refund formulas to include input services and capital goods.
Baid also proposed a dedicated ₹1,000-crore MedTech R&D and clinical validation fund, development of ESKA-compliant testing and calibration facilities, and a MedTech Export Acceleration Mission to support regulatory approvals, export credit and global market access.
Technology and AI-led care delivery emerged as another key focus area. Dev Tripathy, Head of Finance, Philips Indian Subcontinent, said leveraging AI is essential to deliver quality healthcare to the last mile by enabling early diagnosis and better clinical decision-making. He called for incentives to promote AI innovation, job creation and high-end service exports through Global Capability Centres, along with new PLI schemes that support holistic growth of the MedTech manufacturing ecosystem. Rationalised duty structures, he added, are critical amid global geopolitical and currency pressures to keep healthcare affordable.
From a patient outcomes perspective, industry leaders are also seeking policy support beyond acute care. Ajay Bagga, Managing Director and Country Head, Zimmer Biomet India, and MTaI member, informed that the Budget should strengthen the entire continuum of orthopaedic care, particularly post-surgical recovery and rehabilitation in non-metro and district settings. He advocated support for digitally enabled care management platforms that combine personalised recovery guidance, remote monitoring and clinician follow-up to improve outcomes and advance value-based healthcare.
Taken together, healthcare stakeholders believe Union Budget 2026 can play a defining role in reducing future disease burden, improving affordability, accelerating domestic manufacturing and positioning India as a globally competitive, future-ready healthcare hub.
