India’s healthcare policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has moved far beyond the narrow lens of welfare. It now stands at the heart of a strategy to build a “Viksit Bharat” — a developed India — by 2047. By treating health as an investment rather than an expense, these initiatives have demonstrated that good governance in healthcare is also sound economic policy. They reduce disease burden, protect household savings, and unleash human capital — the true engine of sustainable growth.
Modi’s interest in healthcare dates to his tenure as Gujarat CM, when he emphasised timely interventions and accessible services. The 108 Emergency Ambulance Service brought rapid medical attention to rural and urban communities. Simultaneously, POSHAN, a nutrition programme for tribal and rural children, addressed micronutrient deficiencies and laid a foundation for better learning outcomes. These experiments revealed a principle that would shape national reforms: Investing in prevention pays dividends in productivity and prosperity.
On assuming national leadership, Modi extended these lessons to programmes with unprecedented reach. Ayushman Bharat, launched in 2018, has become the world’s largest publicly funded health insurance scheme, covering over 55 crore economically vulnerable citizens. By shielding families from catastrophic medical bills, it has helped millions avoid sliding back into poverty after illness. The scheme also channels patients toward empanelled hospitals, encouraging quality upgrades and fostering a competitive ecosystem in secondary and tertiary care.
The POSHAN Abhiyaan, also inaugurated in 2018, tackles malnutrition among pregnant women, lactating mothers and young children. Supplementary nutrition, growth monitoring, and behavioural change campaigns converge to build healthier mothers and stronger babies. Better nutrition in early life directly enhances cognitive development and future earning capacity — a return on investment measurable in decades of higher productivity.
Pharmaceutical affordability received a major boost through the Jan Aushadhi Kendras. With over 16,900 Jan Aushadhi Kendras supplying quality generics at steep discounts, households can divert money once spent on costly branded medicines toward food, schooling, or small business investment.
The Swachh Bharat Mission, though often framed as a sanitation drive, is equally a public-health revolution. Tens of millions of toilets built across villages and towns have drastically reduced open defecation, cutting water-borne disease and saving an estimated 60,000-70,000 infant lives every year.
Women-centred initiatives like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao have improved gender ratios and promoted girls’ education, while digital health tools and Ayushman Arogya Mandirs are bringing screening, teleconsultation, and electronic health records to even the smallest communities. Together, these measures create an ecosystem where citizens are healthier, families retain disposable income, and the workforce becomes more reliable and skilled.
According to UNICEF, each rural family has estimated savings of Rs 50,000 per year thanks to the Swachh Bharat mission. The economic logic behind these reforms is striking. India historically struggled with out-of-pocket health expenditure — 64 per cent of total spending in 2013-14. By 2021-22, that figure had fallen to 39 per cent, a shift largely attributed to expanded insurance, subsidised medicines, and sanitation improvements . Lower personal spending on illness translates into higher household consumption, greater savings, and stronger participation in formal finance.
Preventive interventions like clean drinking water, better toilets, and maternal-child nutrition also yield externalities — benefits that extend beyond the direct recipient. Fewer sick days mean steadier attendance at factories, farms, and offices. Children who avoid stunting score better in school and become higher-income adults. Even urban employers profit when healthier migrant workers reduce staff turnover and training costs.
Insurance coverage through Ayushman Bharat has also stimulated private investment in tier-2 and tier-3 healthcare infrastructure. Hospitals, labs, and start-ups now see business opportunities in districts once neglected because patients lacked purchasing power. In this way, public financing acts as seed capital for a new wave of health entrepreneurship, creating jobs while deepening service penetration.
The transformation in India’s health sector since 2014 shows how a government can harness public policy to achieve both equity and economic dynamism. By recasting healthcare as a pillar of productivity, Modi has shifted the narrative from charity to investment. Households once trapped in a cycle of illness and debt are retaining income, educating children, and contributing to formal markets. Entrepreneurs find new customers in villages where medical security once seemed unimaginable. And millions of women, strengthened by better health and sanitation, are claiming their place in the workforce and public life.
I want to congratulate Prime Minister Modi on reforming medical education, which in my opinion is the most difficult reform to implement. It took us over 60 years to build 387 medical colleges. In 10 years, the number has grown to 780. Today, India produces over 1,18,000 doctors every year, the most in the world.
As India advances toward 2047, the dividends of these reforms will multiply — in higher life expectancy, rising incomes, and a citizenry capable of shaping its destiny. Inclusive, preventive healthcare is no longer a peripheral concern; it is the backbone of national strength and a decisive instrument for economic transformation.
The writer is founder, chairman and senior consultant cardiac surgeon at Narayana Health.Views are personal.
