Budget 2026: From increased allocation to reduced red tapes; here is what healthcare sector expects from Budget

Healthcare is one of the keenly tracked sectors during the budget session as it involves the significance of the broader population of the country. Additionally, India remains one of the few countries that is still highly underpenetrated in terms of accessibility to public healthcare infrastructure. Each year, the expectations from the budget remain high for the sector, and the Government has gradually delivered strong impetus to the sector by announcing various welfare schemes. As the budget 2026 comes near, the sector analysts, economists and other stakeholders round up for expectations from the budget.

Here’s what the 2025 budget delivered for the healthcare sector

The Government of India allocated nearly ₹1 lakh crore for the healthcare sector, which is also 1.9% allocation of the overall budget as of FY25, but remained below the 2.5% target by the National Health Policy. The budget of 2025 focused more on affordability and accessibility by announcing cancer day care centres in 200 district hospitals by the year's end, which will reduce dependence on urban healthcare services for the rural population. Secondly, the government also extended the coverage of PM JAY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana) to gig workers and platform workers. This gave coverage of ₹5 lakh per family per year for each gig worker and platform worker. They further allocated ₹9,406 crore

Apart from that, the Finance Minister also announced an additional 10000 medical seats for the upcoming academic session, to address India’s low doctor-to-population ratio. It also gave exemption in customs duty to 36 critical life-saving drugs used to treat cancer, rare diseases and severe chronic diseases. Further, by launching the ‘ Heal in India’ initiative, the government also wants to promote medical tourism in India.

Here is what to expect from Budget 2026

Increased allocation to 2.5% of the budget remains the key and primary expectation from the budget 2026. NATHEALTH (Healthcare Federation of India) expects the creation of the Healthcare Infrastructure Fund of ₹50000 crore to access low-cost funding for building hospitals in tier 2 and 3 cities and help private hospitals set up hospitals in rural areas. The Deloitte report on budget expectations highlights setting up a policy for easy approval of a licence for importing refurbished/used medical devices, which can be used in providing healthcare facilities in underpenetrated areas at cheaper costs.

Masaharu Morita, Founder and Program Director, NURA – AI Health Screening Centre Said, “As India prepares for the Union Budget, there is a crucial opportunity to reorient healthcare towards prevention and early intervention. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) continue to place a growing burden on individuals, families and public health systems, yet many conditions remain undetected until advanced stages. Strengthening structured screening programmes and enabling technology-led risk assessment can help identify disease earlier, improve outcomes and reduce avoidable hospitalisation.

Targeted policy support for preventive health infrastructure, workforce training and data-driven screening models can optimise long-term healthcare spending while easing pressure on tertiary care facilities. Encouraging public-private collaboration and integrating preventive screening into primary care pathways will be key to building a more sustainable system.