The center strives to pave the way for a technology-enabled healthcare system.
The 2022-23 Union Budget identifies a ‘focus on inclusive growth and wellbeing’ as the first of the three top goals of the Amrit Kaal. In current times, growth and inclusivity have become synonymous with the resilience of a country’s healthcare infrastructure.
India has demonstrated extraordinary resilience in the fight against the pandemic with the healthcare and life sciences sectors at the forefront. The country has conducted the world’s largest vaccination campaign, inoculating 93% of the adult population with at least one dose. We’ve seen the field grow in infrastructure challenges and deepen our resolve for future-ready systems.
With a budget for fiscal year 23, the government works to build on its digitization efforts and pave the way for a technology-enabled healthcare system. The budget continues to provide a massive Rs 7.5 lakh for capital expenditure across sectors which should add a good boost to our Aatmanirbhar Bharat ambitions, though it remains to be seen how much of this expenditure is left to be seen. will flow down to the health care and life sciences sectors.
Consider the key announcements affecting the following areas:
• The National Digital Health Ecosystem, which will be implemented under the auspices of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, will integrate the stakeholders in the ecosystem using an open platform. This initiative along with the Bharatnet project on digital connectivity in villages will make healthcare accessible and affordable for all.
• The budget recognizes increased mental health awareness. The proposed National Telemedicine Mental Health Program with its network of 23 outstanding telemedicine centers will provide counseling and care services for all while addressing the patient privacy needs.
• Upgrading 20,000 anganwadi to Saksham Anganwadi will improve rural health outcomes and strengthen efforts in the Mission Shakti, Mission Vatsalya, Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 programs.
• Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana 35% increase to Rs 10,000 crore is a step towards providing healthcare for all by addressing the unequal allocation of healthcare resources .
• Focusing on growing the startup ecosystem through streamlining regulatory issues, extending tax incentives for startups to March 2023 will also benefit the HealthTech space.
• The pharmaceutical industry has been incorporated into Sunrise’s industries and will benefit from supportive policies, minimum regulations and favorable conditions for capacity building in the country. In addition, R&D will be encouraged through collaboration between academia, industry and public agencies, and government contributions. Startups in this sector will also receive mixed financing.
• The budget proposes to eliminate more than 350 customs duty exemptions including goods on medical devices, drugs and medicines. In addition, customs duties on certain medical instruments, equipment and instruments have been reduced, which will reduce the cost of imports and promote the domestic industry to become cost-effective. These measures will generally make the domestic manufacturing industry competitive and strengthen the ‘Make in India’ proposition.
• PM GatiShakti’s multimodal approach will eliminate cost defects in logistics with exponential impact across sectors, including healthcare and life sciences. This can also reduce the cost of drugs and medical supplies.
In the third edition under the prevailing pandemic situation, the health care and life sciences sectors have high expectations from the budget. With these measures in place, there are several key needs that continue to be on the industry’s “Requirement List”:
• A zero-rated GST structure will help ease operational restrictions for the healthcare sector and help make health care affordable for all.
• The inclusion of pharmaceutical products in the RODTEP program will boost exports and strengthen our position as the pharmaceutical of the world.
• Restoring a higher percentage withholding under Section 35 (2AB) of the Income Tax Act 1961 for expenditures incurred for R&D purposes would provide an impetus for innovation efforts in the field of life sciences.
Given the key role of industries in the fight against the pandemic, the Government is expected to go further to meet some of these needs. Overall, the budget takes a progressive approach while balancing growth and inclusivity over the long term. Hopefully the government will maintain the momentum achieved by the sectors as we move towards the vision of India @ 100.
(Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.)
