Budget 2026 Boosts Ayush Ministry Funding by 10% to Rs 4,500 Crore

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her ninth consecutive Budget speech, proposed to set up three new All India Institutes of Ayurveda to expand high-quality education, research, and tertiary care capacity in Ayurveda.

She also announced the upgradation of Ayush pharmacies and drug testing laboratories to higher certification standards, strengthening the quality-assurance ecosystem for Ayurvedic and other traditional medicines and creating demand for more skilled personnel.

"In this year's budget, the Ayush Ministry has been given a budget of about Rs 4,500 crore, increasing it by more than 10 per cent as compared to the budget of last year, 2025-26," Jadhav told IANS.

"We see that right now the growth of our Ayush industry is happening at a very big scale," he added.

The Finance Minister also proposed to upgrade the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine at Jamnagar to further bolster evidence-based research, training, and awareness in traditional medicine at the global level.

"By upgrading it, evidence-based research will be conducted there, and strong scientific evidence will be generated. This will improve the overall quality of research and help bring our traditional medicine centres up to a high standard. Moreover, working in collaboration with the WHO will make it easier to get global recognition for our traditional medicine," Jadhav said.

Sitharaman also announced plans to establish Ayush centres within the proposed five Regional Medical Value Tourism Hubs, integrating AYUSH services into comprehensive medical tourism complexes alongside diagnostics, post-care, and rehabilitation.

"Through the integration of AYUSH, treatment will be delivered using therapeutic approaches such as yoga, naturopathy, and ayurveda," Jadhav told IANS.

"High-quality value tourism centres will be established across the country, for which rules and guidelines are being formulated. Through this initiative, patients coming from abroad will be able to enter the country on an Ayush visa and receive treatment here. As a result, there has been a significant increase in foreign exchange earnings. For the first time, such a substantial budget has been allocated for Ayush," he added.

- IANS