Reaction on Union Budget 2022-23 : Healthcare Industry

Union Budget 2022 : Reaction by Prominent Personalities

India

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New Delhi, February 01, 2022:

Under Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem will be rolled out and it will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity, consent framework, and universal access to health facilities.

The Finance Minister said, as the pandemic has accentuated mental health problems in people of all ages, a ‘National Tele Mental Health Programme’ will be launched for better access to quality mental health counselling and care services. This will include a network of 23 tele-mental health centres of excellence, with NIMHANS being the nodal centre and International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIITB) providing technology support.

Post Budget Reaction by Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman Apollo Hospitals Group

“During the pandemic, we saw an immense contribution of start-ups to innovation in healthcare and the extension of the tax benefits for another year should encourage more start-ups in the healthtech space to come up and invest in R&D especially in the field of AI powered smart wearables and predictive healthcare. This will in turn be invaluable in strengthening our fight against non-communicable diseases, which can otherwise derail the economic recovery by impacting our productive demographic.

“The budget keeps us on track on enabling universal health accessibility with the proposed National Digital Health Ecosystem. With digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity for each individual, this will help in providing universal access to health facilities. Along with the national tele-mental health program, this shows the enhanced focus on health. At Apollo Hospitals, we look forward to contributing to the success of these path-breaking initiatives along with rest of the private sector healthcare.”

Post Budget reaction by Dr. Rakesh Gupta, Chairman, Sarvodaya Hospital

“A bold budget that lays down a 25-year roadmap for India to become a truly digital economy. The announcement regarding establishment of the National Digital Health Ecosystem is significant. It will make the health sector much more efficient and bring it into the modern age. Mental health has emerged as a silent epidemic in the last few years. Setting up a national tele mental health program to provide counselling and support to patients fulfills an urgent, long-felt need of an overlooked health challenge. Upgrading two lakh anganwadis with better infrastructure will have a positive effect on child health. There is no significant increase in budgetary allocation to health for FY 22-23, which is a bit disappointing considering how the Indian healthcare system struggled to meet the challenge of the epidemic. However, all in all, it is a very well thought out budget that will have a positive impact on the digital and health infrastructure of the country.”

Budget reaction : Dr. GSK Velu, Chairman & Managing Director, Trivitron Healthcare and Neuberg Diagnostics

Dr GSK Velu, Chairman & MD, Neuberg Diagnostics

As expected, Budget 22-23 was a balanced effort to improve overall economic growth. Today, the healthcare sector in India is at a much stronger position than ever before. Measures introduced in Budget 2022-23 will further strengthen the healthcare sector while focusing on prevailing challenges.

The rollout of a National Digital Health Ecosystem will ensure that all segments of the society are able to access affordable and adequate healthcare in a seamless and efficient manner. Such an ecosystem can potentially make universal healthcare a reality for India.

Further, the fact that mental health counselling and care services found a place in the budget is a testament to how far we have come as a country. Inarguably, the Covid pandemic has adversely affected the mental health of the population at large. Thus, the launch of a National Tele Mental Health program can play a catalytic role in both normalising conversations around mental health as well as ensuring that people are able to seek support for mental health related challenges.

Though there was not much for the medical devices industry directly in the Budget, the industry will benefit from the Government’s increased focus on healthcare. The National healthcare mission outlay has been kept at ~37,000 crores like previous year and this is a bit disappointing, considering the fact our healthcare infrastructure needs big boost in the coming years. The demand from all healthcare experts was to increase healthcare outlay in the current budget.

Post-Budget Reaction : Siraj, Dhanani, CEO and Founder, InnAccel Technologies

As a health and medical device manufacturing MSME Start Up, we welcome the increased focus on employability, e-skilling, employment generation in the MSME sector with an allocation of nearly Rs 2 lac crore for MSME Sector. The fact that there is an emphasis to create nearly 60 lakh jobs.

On the health front we welcome the announcement for an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem that will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity and universal access to health facilities.

Tax incentives for start-ups to be incorporated until March 31, 2023, is also another step in right direction, and we look forward to the government introduced expert committees’ recommendation on regulatory framework for venture capital in the country.

We also welcome governments assistance announcement and acknowledgement that Artificial Intelligence has huge opportunity for sustainability and growth and as an organization will continue of increasing the role, presence, and R&D of Artificial Intelligence in our medical devices and products.

Dr Anand Bansal, MD, Action Group of Hospitals

Dr Anand Bansal, Medical Director at Action Group of Hospitals said, “Amid COVID 19 pandemic the sudden and unprecedented changes the world had to go through, this budget was keenly awaited especially for the announcements in regards to the health sector. Apart from physical, mental health is also a majorly affected area during pandemic. Addressing the need of the hour the implementation of a national tele-mental health program, which will have tech-support from IIT Bangalore,will give an momentum to mental health issues as the pandemic has accentuated problems of stress and depression in the people. This would undoubtedly improve access to high-quality mental health counselling and treatment services. Also, an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem will be rolled out and it’ll further help in strengthening the healthcare services within the country, still our health sector needs more expenditure and infrastructure development. As per health concerns this budget is satisfactory and full of vision, considering the challenges our healthcare is facing, things will surely need time to reflect results on a larger scale”.

Post Budget reaction by Mr. Ajay Sharma, Co-founder & COO of DESH Clinics, a chain of Digitally Enabled Smart Health Clinics across rural and remote areas of India, supporting National Digital Health Mission

“Truly a bold, forward-looking budget that lays the roadmap to steer the economy over the next decade and turn it into a truly digital ecosystem. It is heartening that the Finance Minister has recognized the importance of telecommunication as a medium of growth of Tele Health in India. The Budget’s emphasis on rapid deployment of optical fibers in underserved geographies, earmarking 5% of Universal Service Obligation fund for affordable broadband and mobile services in rural and remote areas, and roll out of National Digital Health Ecosystem are hugely welcome. This will enable an explosion of tele-health services across the country, connecting patients in rural areas with medical specialists in metros, solving the problem of access.

Neerja Birla, Founder and Chairperson, Mpower said, “The Government has recognised the mental health crisis, exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic, in the Union Budget. The setting up of a national tele mental health programme is a welcome move, and will go a long way in helping people of all ages to access quality mental health. Today, having a platform where people can voice their concerns freely, and safely is the first step towards mental wellness, and I am confident that with this, India will be able to bring about a much needed change in society.”

Jitin Bhasin, Founder, SaveIN said, “Union Budget 2022 is extremely progressive and forward-looking in nature. Especially for startups, the tax exemption to eligible startups, incorporated before 31st Mar, 2023 is going to provide much-needed cashflow boost to startups in their formative years.

“Setting up of an Open platform under the National Digital Health Ecosystem is a welcome move and much needed with an aim to accelerate digital health push. The fintech sector has a decisive role to play in furthering accessibility and affordability of healthcare products and services. Overall, budgetary provisions look progressive.”

Ganesh Sabat, CEO – Sahajanand Medical Technologies Ltd. said, The Union Budget 2022 is a testimony of technology-enabled wherewithal that India@75 has achieved. Higher allocation to the MSME sector, start-ups and the PLI Scheme will give a subsequent push to infrastructure development, which is a major driver of growth for India.

The mental Health & Digital Health push along with the One-Nation-One Registration towards Ease of Doing Business and Compliance are some of the positive steps that will again propel growth in the long term. Further the announcement on Public Procurement by allowing 75% prompt payments and bringing in a weighted price preference on account of Quality which is especially critical in healthcare related medical devices are welcoming.

No retrograde steps, and nothing rolled back is assuring that commitments made in the last budget especially in the healthcare sector to deal with the pandemic will continue to propel the sector in fostering innovation. Overall, a balanced Budget which looks at consistency, and focuses on Atmanirbhar Bharat with a digital and green growth lens.

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