BIOPHARMA SHAKTI (STRATEGY FOR HEALTHCARE ADVANCEMENT THROUGH KNOWLEDGE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION) PROPOSED IN THE UNION BBUDGET 2026-27

The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, presented the Union Budget 2026-27 in Parliament today. In her speech, the Finance Minister said that the government is inspired by 3 Kartavyas: (1) to accelerate and sustain economic growth; (2) to fulfill aspirations and build the capacity of the population; (3) to ensure that every family, community, region and sector has access to resources. Health emerges as an important component of all the three Kartavyas in the Union Budget.

To develop India as a global Biopharma manufacturing hub, the Union Budget proposes the Biopharma SHAKTI (Strategy For Healthcare Advancement Through Knowledge, Technology And Innovation) with an outlay of ₹ 10,000 crores over the next 5 years. This will build the ecosystem for domestic production of biologics and biosimilars.

For the creation of a new range of skilled career pathways for the youth, the Finance Minister proposed interventions in multiple sectors including the Health sector. These are as follows:

(1)  Existing institutions for Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) will be upgraded and new AHP Institutions established in private and Government sectors. This will cover 10 selected disciplines, including optometry, radiology, anesthesia, OT Technology, Applied Psychology and Behavioural Health and the addition of 100,000 AHPs over the next 5 years.

(2) The Finance Minister in her speech stated that a strong Care Ecosystem, covering geriatric and allied care services will be built. A variety of NSQF-aligned programmes will be developed to train multi-skilled caregivers combining core care and allied skills, such as, wellness, yoga and operation of medical and assistive devices. Further, in the coming year, 1.5 lakh caregivers will be trained.

(3) To promote India as a hub for medical tourism services, the Union Budget proposes to launch a Scheme to support States in establishing five Regional Medical Hubs, in partnership with the private sector. These Hubs will serve as integrated healthcare complexes that combine medical, educational and research facilities. They will have AYUSH Centres, Medical Value Tourism Facilitation Centres and infrastructure for diagnostics, post-care and rehabilitation. These Hubs will provide diverse job opportunities for health professionals including doctors and AHPs.

The Finance Minister, in her speech noted that the Ancient Indian yoga, already respected in several parts of the world, was given mass global recognition when Hon’ble PM took it to the UN. Further, post-COVID, Ayurveda gained a similar global acceptance and recognition. To meet this growing global demand, a few more steps were announced.

The Finance Minister proposed to: (i) set up 3 new All India Institutes of Ayurveda; (ii) upgrade AYUSH pharmacies and Drug Testing Labs for higher standards of certification ecosystem, and make available more skilled personnel; (iii) upgrade the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre in Jamnagar to bolster evidence-based research, training and awareness for traditional medicine.

The Finance Minister also noted the lack of national institutes for mental healthcare in north India. Therefore, the Union Budget announced the setting up of a NIMHANS-2 and the upgrading of National Mental Health Institutes in Ranchi and Tezpur as Regional Apex Institutions. Further, the emergency capacities of District Hospitals will be strengthened and increased by 50% by establishing Emergency and Trauma Care Centres.