What can we expect from the Budget 2021 in terms of healthcare especially in times of COVID19?

We can definitely expect some special provision towards healthcare in the Budget. COVID-19 is still an ongoing crisis and as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman prepares to present the annual budget on 1 February, there is an obvious expectation of spending to ensure better health outcomes and protect the residents of the nation from similar epidemics in the future.

The ongoing pandemic also brought to light the need to improve the infrastructure for both the public and private sectors as well as accessibility to insurance (with the extended implementation of the Ayushman Bharat programme. The government may provide higher allocation towards building our national healthcare infrastructure. We could see impetus being given to investment in R&D, equipment, more hospitals, and in improving the overall infrastructure. Reintroducing tax holidays for rural hospitals, providing flexibility to select beneficial years and viability gap funding by the government for investors, setting up hospitals in smaller cities to increase Ayushman Bharat’s provided base would make India viable and an attractive destination for healthcare players to invest across India and boost the medical sector.