Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced plans to establish five regional hubs for medical tourism and proposed a Rs 10,000-crore allocation for the Biopharma Shakti programme over the next five years.
Presenting the Union Budget, she said, “I propose to launch a scheme to support states in establishing five regional medical hubs,” which will function as integrated healthcare complexes combining medical, educational, and research facilities.
On the Biopharma Shakti programme, Sitharaman said, “With an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore over the next five years, this will build the ecosystem for domestic production of biologics and biosimilars.” The initiative will include a biopharma-focused network with three new National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs) and upgrades to seven existing institutes.
She added that the programme will create a network of 1,000 accredited clinical trial sites across India. “We propose to strengthen the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation to meet global standards and enforce approval timelines through a dedicated scientific review cadre and specialists,” she said.
Sitharaman also proposed setting up three new All India Institutes of Ayurveda as part of the government’s push to expand traditional and modern healthcare infrastructure.
