Budget 2026-27: Health allocation gets nearly 10% bump
India's central government started a "health cess" in 2018 to boost healthcare funds.
But here's the catch: while the latest budget for health just got a nearly 10% bump, the actual share of core health spending in the total budget has quietly dropped—from 2.4% in 2017-18 to just 1.9% for 2026-27, and its slice of GDP is shrinking too.
But here's the catch
A big chunk of health funding now comes from this cess—over 30% of the total allocation—while real core spending has declined in recent years.
Instead of adding extra money, the cess is mostly replacing regular budget funds, letting the government sidestep its own targets for public healthcare investment.
This means India is falling short on promises like those in the National Health Policy, and real progress on better healthcare could be much slower than it looks on paper.