Budget 2024: Health Ministry's Budget outlay jumps 12.9% to Rs 90,958 crore

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has received a 12.9 per cent increase in its outlay for 2024-25, with the Union Budget allocating Rs 90,958 crore to it, up from Rs 80,517.62 crore in the revised estimates for the health ministry in 2023-24.

The budgetary estimate figures for FY25 include the combined outlay for the two departments under the health ministry: the department of health and family welfare and the department of health research.

While the department of health and family welfare has an estimated outlay of Rs 87,656 crore, a 12.92 per cent rise from Rs 77,625 crore allocated in revised estimates for 2023-24, the department of health research received an outlay of Rs 3,302 crore, a 14 per cent rise from Rs 2,893 crore allocated in revised estimates for 2023-24.

 

The government’s universal health coverage scheme, Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, saw a 10 per cent increase in its outlay to Rs 7,300 crore from Rs 6,800 crore in revised estimates for 2023-24.

The increase comes after the finance ministry had announced plans to bring ASHA and Anganwadi workers under the scheme’s ambit in the interim budget announced earlier this year.

Similarly, the outlay for strengthening drug regulatory systems was set at Rs 75 crore, up 44 per cent from the Rs 52 crore given in last year’s revised estimates.

An increase was also seen in outlays for programmes against non-communicable diseases and the establishment and strengthening of regional branches of the National Centre for Disease Control.

The budget also provisions for health initiatives under inter-sectoral coordination for preparation and control of zoonotic and other neglected tropical diseases such as viral hepatitis and antimicrobial resistance.

Dept of Pharma, Ayush ministry see increase in outlay

The Department of Pharmaceuticals, under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, saw a bumper 51.6 per cent rise in its 2024-25 outlay at Rs 4,090 crore, up from Rs 2,697 crore according to the revised estimates of 2023-24.

The bump came after a 158 per cent increase in outlay to develop Jan Aushadhi Kendras and another 6 per cent increase in outlay for the development of National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research across India.

The Ministry of Ayush also saw a 23.75 per cent rise in its outlay for 2024-25 at Rs 3,712.5 crore, up from Rs 3,000 crore according to revised estimates for 2023-24. The major increase has come from a rise in outlay for the National Ayush Mission and autonomous bodies such as the centres of research for Ayurveda, homeopathy and Unani.