Parliament Question: Public Expenditure on Health Research

GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTH ANDFAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTHRESEARCH LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 961 TOBE ANSWERED ON24TH JULY,2026 PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ONHEALTH RESEARCH †961.SHRIHANUMAN BENIWAL: Willthe Minister of HEALTHANDFAMILYWELFAREbe pleasedtostate: (a) whether the Government is aware of the fact that public expenditure on health research in the country as a proportion of GDP is relatively lower than that of many developed and emerging economiesandif so, the reasons therefor alongwith the Government'sreaction thereto; (b) the details of budget allocation, actual expenditure and the number of sanctioned and pending research projects for the Indian Council of Medical Research and other national health research institutes during the last three years, along with the numberof projects pendingdue tolack of funds or otherreasons, year-wise; (c) whether research work is being affected due to the shortage of state- of-the-art research equipments, the need for modernisation of laboratories and vacant posts of scientists and technical personnel; and (d) if so, the details thereof, institute-wise and the steps taken by the Government to address these shortcomings? ANSWER THE MINISTER OFSTATEIN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTHAND FAMILYWELFARE (SHRIPRATAPRAOJADHAV) (a): The allocation of Department of HealthResearch (DHR) is0.012% of GDP. However, inrecent years Government has increased the budget in health research along with new programmes/initiatives to make research grants more competitive and accessible. The budgetary allocation for DHR hasincreasedover5 times- from ₹932.00 croresin2014-15 (RE) to₹4,821.21 in2026–27 (BE). There hasbeenrise of approximately24per centinBudgetaryallocation in2026- 27 over the Revised Estimates for 2025–26 (₹3,900.69 crore) indicating strong commitment of Union Government towards strengthening health research inthe country. (b) Government has undertaken measures to broaden and strengthen the health-research funding ecosystem. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has rationalised and expanded its intramural and extramural grant architecture so that funding support is calibrated to the scale,maturity, risk and translational stage of a research proposal. ICMR has initiated new follow up grants to utilize the leads from the initial research grants. Details are regularly published at ICMR ePMSportal. The current structure includes Small or ANVESHAN Grants of up to ₹2 crore, Intermediate or NISCHAYAK ANVESHAN Grants ranging from ₹2 crore to ₹8 crore, the First-in-the-World Challenge with stage-linked support of up to ₹8 crore, and Centres for Advanced Research with support of up to ₹15 crore. These instruments support investigator-initiated research, proof-of- concept studies, validation of interventions, high-risk and high-reward innovation, multidisciplinary research andadvancedresearch programmes. Budget allocation, expenditure and number of sanctioned projects at ICMR in last three years- are detailedbelow- Year Budgetallocation Actual Number of sanctionedprojects of ICMR (RE) expenditure of ICMR (AE) 2023-24 ₹2295.12Cr ₹2343.18 Cr 989 2024-25 ₹2869.99Cr ₹2869.57 Cr 759 2025-26 ₹3150.00Cr ₹3149.79 Cr 795 ICMR has further informed that none of the projects are pending as the number of projects sanctionedare within the funding available itself. However,if more funding isallocatedtoICMR, it cansanction more numberof projects. (c) and (d): ICMR has informed that it continuously upgrades its infrastructure including laboratories andequipmentsso thatresearch work isnot affected due tothe shortage of state-of-the- art research equipment, the need for modernization of laboratories. ICMR has also undertaken phased capital upgrades including modernization of labs and animal house facilities, centralized/pool procurement for key equipment,and grant level capital support for networked labs, ICMR I-RISE platform is available for lab equipment sharing with organizations outside ICMR Network. There is a dedicated Central Procurement Cell at ICMR headquarters to streamline the procurement for the Research needs. As on date ICMR has total sanctioned strength of 923 scientists out of which 778 scientists are already inposition. Further, 2137 personnel are in position in Technical cadre. ICMR has also accelerated recruitment drives for regular and contractual staff and has also collaborated with Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) to train youngresearchersthrough ICMR Facultyof Medical Research. ****