At 5.3% of total expenditure, Govt of India's healthcare spending remains flat

By A Representative
The Government of India's spending on healthcare, as percentage of total expenditure, has remained flat at 5.3 percent in last two consecutive financial years, according to the latest Economic Survey 2020. The overall budgetary expenditure by Centre and states in FY20 budget estimates stood at Rs 60.72 lakh crore. In terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) the government spend on healthcare is 1.6 percent in FY20 budget estimate a small rise from 1.5 percent in FY19.
Expenditure on health includes expenditure on medical and public health, family welfare and water supply and sanitation. Primary healthcare accounts for 52.1 per cent of India's current public expenditure on health as per the National Health Estimates, 2016-17.
The National Health Policy - 2017 stated that health spend by government should be 2.5 percent of GDP by 2025. The policy recommended to spend at least two third of Government’s health expenditure on primary healthcare, in addition to setting a target to reduce the proportion of households facing catastrophic health expenditure from the current levels by 25 percent by 2025.