Cabinet note to be shortly moved for extending Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission till 2030

Mint

14-07-2025

New Delhi: The health ministry will shortly circulate a cabinet note for extending the tenure of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) till 2030, a government official said.
The five-year term of the scheme that aims to create a national digital health ecosystem ends in March next year, with only a third of the initial ₹1,600 crore allocated for the current phase having been spent.
An Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) note will be first moved, following which the cabinet note will be circulated.
The National Health Authority (NHA), which implements the mission, recently held discussions with states and union territories on the next phase of ABDM, which will focus on covering more people, onboarding private healthcare providers, and using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve healthcare.
ABDM, which was launched in September 2021, has three components—Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA), a digital health ID for each person, and a Health Facility Registry (HFR).
'Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is making efforts to connect healthcare services across the entire country digitally. With the first phase of ABDM set to finish in March next year, the NHA conducted theconsultation with States on ABDM 2.0" last week, the official said, adding states had a vital role to play in building a collaborative and inclusive digital health ecosystem under ABDM.
The official said thatthe focus was on shaping ABDM 2.0 for a 2026-2030 roll-out.
'The talks covered important areas like how to make better use of allocated funds and encourage more people to sign up for digital health records keeper, known as ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account)."
More than 790 million ABHA health IDs of have been created under the platform till date and 638 million health records linked to the system.
Discussions also touched upon how new technologies like AI could be used to improve healthcare and the need for closer teamwork with states. The main aim is to speed up the pace at which both government and private healthcare providers adopt digital ways of working.
'The NHA is now going to evaluate all the ideas and suggestions, following which they will seek the Expenditure Finance Committee approval for the funds needed to upgrade the digital health initiative, following which Cabinet note will be circulated," the official said.
To be sure, only about a third of the initial ₹1,600 crore budget for the current phase has been used so far. The recent meeting is a critical step in building a more efficient and widely available digital healthcare system for everyone in India, making this one of the central government's key initiatives.
Notably, 414,864 health facilities and 666,956 healthcare professionals have been verified and are on board ABDM.
Queries sent to the health ministry spokesperson remained unanswered till press time.
Arpita Mukherjee, professor at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, said the Indian healthcare system is fragmented and so is the healthcare data.
"So, we have to prioritize digitization. The under utilization of the funds in ABDM may be because government health portals are not interconnected," she said.
Dr. Harsh Mahajan, founder and chief radiologist, Mahajan Imaging & Labs, said the next phase of the mission will be even more important than the first one. "Bringing private healthcare providers on board and using technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) can improve how we diagnose and treat patients. In diagnostics, for example, AI can help doctors read scans more quickly and spot problems earlier.
'When this is supported by easy access to a patient's health records, it leads to better decisions and faster treatment. This is not just about technology. It is about making healthcare more connected and more focused on the patient," he said.