India Launches SAHI & BODH to Pioneer Responsible AI in Healthcare

Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda will launch two major national initiatives for Artificial Intelligence in healthcare. The SAHI framework provides strategic guidance for the safe and ethical adoption of AI across India's health ecosystem. The BODH platform, developed by IIT Kanpur, enables rigorous, privacy-preserving evaluation of AI models using real-world data. These launches coincide with the expansive India AI Impact Expo 2026, which aims to demonstrate AI solutions and foster global collaboration.

Key Points: India Launches National AI Health Initiatives SAHI and BODH

  • SAHI is a national AI governance framework for healthcare
  • BODH is a privacy-preserving AI benchmarking platform
  • Initiatives launched at India AI Impact Summit 2026
  • Expo features 300+ pavilions and 600+ startups
  • Aims to foster global partnerships and ethical AI adoption
3 min read

Health Minister JP Nadda to launch 'SAHI' and 'BODH' initiatives at AI Summit tomorrow

Health Minister JP Nadda launches SAHI framework and BODH platform at AI Summit to build a safe, ethical, and competitive health AI ecosystem.

"a significant step in India's journey towards building a robust, responsible, and globally competitive health AI ecosystem - Press Release"

New Delhi, February 16

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda will launch two key national initiatives, the Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare for India and the Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI, at the India AI Summit at Bharat Mandapam, tomorrow.

SAHI is a national guidance framework aimed at enabling the safe, ethical, evidence-based, and inclusive adoption of Artificial Intelligence across India's healthcare ecosystem.

According to a press release, it aims to provide strategic direction for governance, data stewardship, validation, deployment, and monitoring of AI solutions, while supporting States and institutions in the responsible adoption of AI solutions aligned with public health priorities.

BODH, developed by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in collaboration with the National Health Authority, is a privacy-preserving benchmarking platform that enables rigorous evaluation of AI models using diverse, real-world health data without sharing underlying datasets.

As a digital public good under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, it is designed to strengthen trust, transparency, and quality assurance in the deployment of Health AI.

Together, SAHI and BODH mark a significant step in India's journey towards building a robust, responsible, and globally competitive health AI ecosystem.

The India AI Impact Expo 2026 is being held from February 16-20, alongside the India AI Impact Summit, at Bharat Mandapam. The Expo will serve as a national demonstration of AI in action, where policy meets practice, innovation meets scale, and technology meets the everyday citizen.

Spread across 10 arenas covering more than 70,000 square metres, the Expo will bring together global technology firms, startups, academia and research institutions, Union Ministries, State Governments, and international partners. The Expo will also feature 13 country pavilions, showcasing international collaboration in the AI ecosystem. These include pavilions from Australia, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Serbia, Estonia, Tajikistan and Africa.

As per the release, the Expo will host over 300 curated exhibition pavilions and live demonstrations, organised into three thematic chakras: People, Planet, and Progress. In addition, the Expo will feature over 600 high-potential startups, many of them developing globally relevant, population-scale solutions. These startups will demonstrate working solutions that are already deployed in real-world settings.

The India AI Impact Expo 2026 is expected to attract over 2.5 lakh visitors, including international delegates. The event aims to foster new partnerships and create business opportunities within the global AI ecosystem.

Over 500 sessions will be organised, featuring more than 3250 visionary speakers and panel members. These sessions will focus on acknowledging the transformative impact of AI across sectors and deliberating on future actions to ensure that Artificial Intelligence benefits every global citizen.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

P
Priya S
The BODH platform from IIT Kanpur is brilliant! A privacy-preserving benchmarking tool is crucial. We have so much health data, but sharing it safely has always been a challenge. This could be a game-changer for Indian health-tech startups. Well done!
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Rohit P
Great initiative, but the real test is implementation. We've seen many 'digital missions' launched with fanfare that don't reach the last mile. I hope SAHI and BODH have clear accountability and funding for states to actually use them. Fingers crossed! 🤞
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Sarah B
As someone working in public health, I'm cautiously optimistic. The principles of SAHI (safe, ethical, evidence-based) are perfect. The key will be training healthcare workers to use these AI tools effectively. The summit and expo sound massive – 2.5 lakh visitors!
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Vikram M
Bharat Mandapam is becoming India's tech hub! Good to see so many country pavilions. International collaboration is essential for AI. Hope our startups get good exposure and partnerships. Jai Hind!
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Kavya N
My main concern is data privacy. The article says BODH won't share underlying datasets, which is good. But we need strong laws to protect patient data. AI is powerful, but we must build it on a foundation of trust. A step in the right direction.

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