New Delhi : The National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi achieved another significant milestone in healthcare by launching the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM- ABHIM), after the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of NCT, Delhi, here today.
The signing ceremony was presided by Jagat Prakash Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare & Chemicals and Fertilizers in presence of Rekha Gupta, Chief Minister, Government of NCT Delhi; Harsh Malhotra, Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways; Dr. Pankaj Kumar Singh, Minister, Health and Family Welfare & Transport and Information Technology, Delhi; Pravesh Sahib Singh, Minister, PWD, Legislative Affairs, Irrigation and Flood Control and Water, Delhi; Sardar Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Minister, Industries, Food & Supplies, Environment, Forest & Wildlife, Delhi; Ashish Sood, Minister, Home, Power, Urban Development, Education, Training and Technical Education, Delhi and Ravinder Singh, Minister, Social Welfare, Welfare of SC & ST, Cooperative, Delhi. The event was also attended by the Members of Parliament ( Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Manoj Kumar Tiwari, Yogender Chandolia and Bansuri Swaraj) and Members of Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi. Punya Salila Srivastava, Union Health Secretary and Dharmendra, Chief Secretary, NCT Delhi were also present during the event.
Addressing the gathering, JP Nadda said that AB PM-JAY is the world’s largest health coverage program under which 62 crore people are currently being benefitted. He said, “it is a moment of pride that 36 lakh people in Delhi will be benefitted by the AB PM-JAY scheme.”
Shri Nadda also informed that with the implementation of AB PM-JAY in Delhi, all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their socio-economic status, will be covered under Ayushman Vay Vandana Yojana.
The Union Health Minister highlighted that “8.19 Crore people have already availed treatment under the scheme and the government has cumulatively spent a total of Rs. 1.26 lakh crore for the same.” He stated that out of these people, 19 lakh are downtrodden people who could not have afforded these treatment without the Ayushman Bharat health coverage. “As a result of the Ayushman Bharat scheme, out-of-pocket expenditure has declined from 62% to 38% today”, he further stated.
Speaking on the occasion, Rekha Gupta stated, “Health has always been a priority for the Union Government. Besides improving health infrastructure and making quality and affordable medicines accessible to the masses, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always emphasized on nutrition, yoga, meditation etc. which shows the emphasis being given to the health sector.”
She informed that “for the NCT of Delhi, an amount of Rs. 1749 Crore has been approved for the establishment of 1139 Urban Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (AAM), the strengthening of 11 Integrated Public Health Laboratories (IPHLs), and 9 Critical Care Blocks (CCBs) under PM-ABHIM during the scheme period.”
Union Health Minister and other dignitaries distributed Ayushman cards of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) to 30 beneficiaries of AB PM-JAY in Delhi. These beneficiaries represented different socio-economic profile of the population of the UT. Beneficiaries of the scheme in Delhi may now create their Ayushman cards.
Punya Salila Srivastava stated that this is an important day for Delhi as joining PM-ABHIM will provide Delhi with resilient, inclusive and future ready health infrastructure, while under AB PM-JAY, beneficiary families in Delhi will be benefited with Rs. 10 lakh health cover every year in any of the empaneled hospitals under the scheme.
Background:
PM-ABHIM, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), was launched for strengthening of public health infrastructure on 25th October, 2021. The objective of the scheme is to fill critical gaps in health infrastructure, surveillance and health research – spanning both the urban and rural areas so that the communities are atmanirbhar in managing any health crisis.
Earlier, on April 5, 2025, Government of NCT of Delhi signed an MoU for implementation of AB PM-JAY in Delhi. Beneficiary families of AB PM-JAY in Delhi would be benefitted with Rs. 5 lakh health cover per year in any of the empaneled hospitals of the scheme. The Government of NCT of Delhi has also supplemented the health cover by another additional Rs.5 lakh for each beneficiary family of Delhi. As the scheme of AB PM-JAY is nationally portable, the benefits of the scheme can be taken by the residents of Delhi in any of the 30,000+ empaneled hospitals of the scheme across the country.
Both AB PM-JAY and PM-ABHIM fall under the umbrella of Ayushman Bharat and were launched in mission mode to improve healthcare accessibility, affordability and availability. While Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, launched on 23rd September 2018, has been a game-changer in healthcare, mainly for the millions of poor and vulnerable families across the country, the PM-ABHIM has made robust outcomes in strengthening healthcare infrastructure leapfrogging India to one of the most advanced countries in terms of management of public health during peak healthcare demand.