The healthcare industry Friday expressed disappointment over the Union Budget 2019-20 saying it hardly touched upon the sector and asked the government to consider increasing public spending on healthcare.
"There has been no significant announcements pertaining to healthcare in Union Budget. While there was hope that the allocation for health sector in view of the requirement for funding the Ayushman Bharat, this has not been allocated," Aster DM Healthcare Founder Chairman and Managing Director Azad Moopen said.
It is good that the focus is in education and "I hope that there will be more funding for starting and upgrading medical colleges," he added.
While appreciating the overall Budget and terming it a holistic and visionary Budget with many positives for the rural and social sector, Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said, "...however, absence of any incentive for healthcare in the budget is a big miss."
Max Healthcare in a statement said: "The private healthcare sector had a lot of expectations from the Union Budget. Unfortunately, the Union finance minister in her speech in Parliament, hardly touched upon this sector."