India will likely raise its health spending to 1.2-1.3 trillion rupees ($16.46-$17.83 billion) in the fiscal year starting April 1, from the current year's projected spending of 626 billion rupees, the officials told Reuters. The new healthcare plan is likely to be unveiled on Feb. 1 when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the country's budget for 2020/21. Sitharaman is likely to unveil a four year health budget plan with the aim to move India's healthcare spend to 4% of GDP, with the help of a dedicated health fund, the officials said. The government could also increase a health tax from the current 1% of income and corporate tax to fund the new programme, one of the above officials said. Currently it raises about 150-160 billion rupees annually from the health tax.

Source: bd News24 January 26, 2021 05:37 UTC