While the Government of India has steadily increased healthcare allocations in recent Union Budgets, the emphasis on capacity building alone has left public hospitals struggling to meet the needs of a growing patient load, said Mr. Aditya Banerjee, Managing Director, B. Braun India and member of the Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI).

Banerjee pointed out that many public healthcare facilities continue to face funding constraints that limit their ability to deliver adequate and sustainable services. He stressed the need for a fundamental shift in public procurement policy—from selecting products based purely on the lowest upfront cost (L1) to evaluating them on the basis of long-term value (V1) for the healthcare system.

According to him, value-based procurement would lead to better patient outcomes for every rupee spent, while also helping the government avoid the kind of spiralling healthcare costs seen in several developed countries.

“Despite having much smaller populations, many advanced economies are now grappling with unsustainable healthcare budgets. India has the opportunity to learn from this and build a more resilient, outcome-driven healthcare system,” Banerjee said.

He emphasised that prioritising long-term value over short-term cost savings is essential to ensure efficiency, quality care and financial sustainability in India’s public healthcare system.