Ahmedabad, August 23: Anupriya Patel, the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers, addressed the IIMA Healthcare Summit 2026 held in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
During her speech, she emphasized that India must advance from its established role as the ‘Pharmacy of the World’ to become the ‘Laboratory of the World.’ To achieve this, she stated that research, innovation, and artificial intelligence (AI) should be at the core of the country’s health-related goals. The summit’s theme was ‘Promoting AI in Healthcare.’
While addressing the third edition of the summit at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), Minister Patel noted that the pharmaceutical sector in India needs to progress beyond the production of developed drugs and vaccines, focusing more on innovation and drug discovery.
The summit brought together policymakers, representatives from the healthcare industry, and academics to discuss the role of AI in building a healthy and developed India by 2047.
Minister Patel highlighted India’s contributions during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that the country’s pharmaceutical industry maintained the supply of vaccines and essential medical products to over 200 countries, while administering more than 22 million vaccines under India’s vaccination program.
She stated that AI could enhance drug discovery through better screening, clinical decision-making, and disease monitoring, assist in personalized treatment, and improve healthcare delivery.
However, she stressed that this technology should be adopted in a safe, responsible, and human-centered manner, ensuring patient privacy is respected.
Minister Patel asserted that AI should complement human clinical decision-making rather than replace it. She called for the implementation of AI applications at the population level through increased collaboration among government, academia, healthcare institutions, startups, and industry, moving beyond pilot projects.
She further mentioned that centers of excellence for AI in healthcare have been established at AIIMS New Delhi, PGI Chandigarh, and AIIMS Rishikesh.
Additionally, Minister Patel highlighted the central government’s ₹5,000 crore Pharma-Medical Technology Research and Innovation Promotion (PRIP) scheme, aimed at strengthening collaboration between research and the industry-academia sector and supporting a shift towards innovation-based development.
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