New Delhi, Feb 1: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced exemptions on basic customs duty on 36 life-saving drugs and also gave a big boost to medical tourism.

“Basic customs duty exempted for 36 life-saving drugs, while 6 life-saving drugs will have 5 per cent customs duty,” the FM said, as she presented her eighth consecutive budget and the NDA government’s second full Union Budget of its third term.

“This will provide relief to patients, particularly those suffering from cancer, rare diseases, and other severe chronic diseases,” the FM said.

In a significant move for Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs), the FM waived off customs duty on medicines provided through the programme, expanding access to essential drugs for those in financial distress.

About 13 more patient assistance programs have been added to significantly benefit underprivileged patients.

Further, in a bid to boost medical tourism in the country, the FM announced, a ‘Heal in India’ campaign in partnership with the private sector.

Visa procedures have also been simplified for patients seeking treatment in India to enhance the country’s medical tourism sector.

Medical Tourism in India is estimated to be around $9 billion.

On the Global Medical Tourism Index, India stands at number 10.

The country has seen significant growth in medical tourism in the past year, especially due to the rise of the AYUSH system (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy).

In 2023, the government also implemented medical visa provisions to facilitate the entry of international tourists seeking health and wellness treatments in the country.

Announcing the Union Budget, FM Sitharaman also announced 10,000 additional seats in medical colleges as well as daycare cancer centres in all district hospitals.

New Delhi, Feb 1: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced 10,000 additional seats in medical colleges as well as daycare cancer centres in all district hospitals.

Presenting her eighth consecutive budget and the NDA government’s second full Union Budget of its third term, the Finance Minister said that India has seen remarkable growth in medical education in the last 10 years.

“10,000 additional seats to be added in medical colleges next year and 75,000 seats to be added in next five years,” she said.

“All district hospitals to have daycare cancer centres. About 200 daycare cancer centres will be established in 2025-26,” the FM said.

Further, “broadband connectivity to primary health centres will help in expanding telemedicine consultation for rural patients at village level”, she added.

In the last 10 years, medical colleges in the country have doubled to 780 in 2024-25 from just 387 in 2013-14 — a 102 per cent growth.

During the same period, the seats for MBBS also rose from 51,348 to 1,18,137 — a 130 per cent surge.

In the last budget, the government made custom duty exemptions and a reduction in GST rates on three anti-cancer medications.

The three anti-cancer drugs were Trastuzumab, Osimertinib and Durvalumab.

The government also slashed the GST rate from 12 per cent to 5 per cent on these three cancer medicines.

Cancer cases are rising significantly in India. According to a Lancet study, India registered about 12 lakh new cancer cases and 9.3 lakh deaths in 2019 — the second-highest contributor to the disease burden in Asia.

The number climbed to 13.9 lakh in 2020, which further soared to 14.2 lakh and 14.6 lakh in the years 2021 and 2022, respectively, the study showed.

Mumbai: Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Hospital is all set to introduce robotic surgery next month.

The hospital has received a robotic operating system worth Rs 30 crore and installation is currently underway. A team of three doctors and a nurse from the surgery department recently underwent training in Delhi to operate the system.

The hospital dean, Dr Pallavi Saple, said the system will allow doctors to perform complex surgeries with ease using a console.

Dr Ajay Bhandarwar, the head of the surgery department who also completed the training, said that patient selection will be done carefully, and they will also conduct prostate surgeries with the help of experts.

Currently, robotic surgery is only available in private hospitals, where it costs an additional Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh per procedure. With the introduction at JJ Hospital, poor patients will now have access to advanced surgical care at no cost.