Nigam Gupta
jkssind@gmail.com
When Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rose to present the Union Budget for FY 2026-27 on February 1st, she did so against a complex global backdrop i.e. economic uncertainty, geopolitical realignments, disrupted supply chains, and cautious capital flows. Yet, the message from North Block was clear and confident that ‘India will not pause its big announcements to growth journey; it will re-engineer it’. Then, calling this a “Yuva Shakti-driven Budget,” the Finance Minister underlined the government’s resolve to “transform aspiration into achievement and potential into performance.” The roadmap rests on three pillars, manufacturing depth, high-growth services, and resilient infrastructure. Within this architecture, one sector finally takes centre stage with strategic clarity and scale is ‘Healthcare’s Manufacturing Moment’ has arrived.
However, for industry, intent alone is not sufficient. What determines investment decisions is predictability of policy, speed of execution, and accountability of administration. Thus for, now it is the turn for states / UT Governments like Jammu & Kashmir, to use for ‘Converting This Budget Opportunities into Regional Advantages.’
Viewed from the lens of an industry leader, Union Budget 2026-27 sends an unequivocal signal to healthcare manufacturers, innovators, and long-term investors. And India is now open for high-value, technology-intensive healthcare manufacturing. Initiatives such as Biopharma SHAKTI, expansion of semiconductor and electronics ecosystems, development of rare earth corridors, and rejuvenation of industrial clusters together form the backbone of globally competitive healthcare manufacturing.
In this context, States and Union Territories, particularly strategically important regions like Jammu & Kashmir, have a timely opportunity to align themselves with the Union Budget’s manufacturing vision and convert national policy into regional economic gain.
There is a compelling case for replicating proven healthcare manufacturing ecosystem models such as the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) in States / UTs like Jammu & Kashmir. Such ecosystems must go beyond the conventional approach of land allotment and fiscal incentives. They should provide a genuine plug-and-play environment, supported by integrated testing and calibration laboratories, certification and regulatory facilitation, common utilities, logistics infrastructure, and access to clinical validation and pilot deployment facilities. Equally critical is the implementation of a truly empowered single-window clearance mechanism, backed by statutory timelines and decision-making authority. For investors, the credibility of a policy is measured not by its notification, but by the speed and certainty with which approvals, utilities, and operational clearances are delivered. To ensure effectiveness, inter-departmental coordination, spanning health, industries, finance, power, environment, skill development, and higher education must be institutionalised rather than remaining personality-driven. Officials entrusted with these responsibilities should be supported, monitored, and held accountable through clearly defined performance indicators, periodic independent audits, and outcome-linked evaluations.
Only through such structured governance can healthcare manufacturing ecosystems catalyse regional development, attract credible private investment, generate skilled employment, and integrate frontier regions like Jammu & Kashmir into India’s national healthcare manufacturing and innovation growth story. As this Budget marks a decisive shift from healthcare being viewed largely as a service and consumption sector to being recognised as a strategic manufacturing and innovation domain. The emphasis on investment-led development, combined with targeted support to MSMEs as supply-chain anchors, positions healthcare manufacturing alongside semiconductors, electronics, chemicals, and rare earths as a national priority.
So, it is an opportunity for the elected Government in UT of J&K to align Budget Opportunity with J&K’s Healthcare Investment Policy @ ‘From Intent to Implementation’
As the Jammu & Kashmir Healthcare Investment Policy, 2019, notified during the period of then, Governor’s administration, articulated an ambitious and forward-looking vision to position J&K as a preferred destination for healthcare infrastructure, medical education, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. The policy promised facilitation through incentives, land availability, fiscal support, and a single-window clearance mechanism, and was followed by multiple public statements from the then, senior officials indicating receipt of healthcare investment proposals amounting to several thousand crores of rupees. However, several years on, there remains a visible disconnect between policy intent, public declarations, and ground-level outcomes. Much of the projected investment has yet to translate into operational facilities, manufacturing units, teaching hospitals, or sustained employment generation. May; this be an eye opener for our newly elected Government that many healthcare investors are still sitting with their proposals in hands for want of single window clearances system and allied assistances. For investors and stakeholders, this gap has gradually diluted confidence, not due to lack of policy articulation, but due to procedural delays, fragmented departmental coordination, and absence of time-bound execution frameworks.
In this backdrop, the Union Budget 2026-27 provides a renewed national framework particularly for healthcare manufacturing, biopharma, medical devices, hospital corporates and allied services, within which Jammu & Kashmir can realign and course-correct. This moment calls for reinvigorating the 2019 Healthcare Investment Policy, not through fresh announcements, but through disciplined implementation consistent with UT administrative rules, clearly delegated authority, and measurable outcomes. Single-window clearance systems, as envisaged under the policy, must operate as empowered decision-making platforms, not merely facilitation desks. Statutory timelines, inter-departmental concurrence protocols, and escalation mechanisms must be enforced transparently. Policy certainty, predictability of approvals, and accountability of designated officers will determine whether J&K can convert national healthcare manufacturing momentum into tangible regional advantage.
Therefore, through this write-up, I respectfully urge the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, to view Union Budget 2026-27 not merely as a policy pronouncement, but as an opportunity to activate dormant commitments under J&K’s own healthcare investment framework. Strategic leadership at this juncture can ensure that healthcare investment proposals move from files to factory floors, from MoUs to medical institutions, and from announcements to actual patient and employment outcomes.
Apart from above, ‘A Collective Administrative Responsibility’ at this critical juncture, it is imperative that senior officials across the Health, Industries & Commerce, Finance, Power, Environment, Skill Development, and Higher Education Departments move beyond siloed functioning and adopt a mission-mode approach. Regular inter-departmental reviews, public disclosure of project status, and outcome-linked responsibility must become the norm. The credibility of governance will now be judged not by the number of proposals received, but by the number of projects commissioned, staffed, and sustained. Jammu & Kashmir has both the policy foundation and the national support to emerge as a credible healthcare investment destination. What is required is administrative resolve, coordinated execution, and accountable leadership so that this opportunity does not once again remain confined to statements and statistics, but is reflected in institutions, industries, and improved healthcare outcomes for the people of the UT.
Not to forget, that all such initiatives signal a decisive move toward industrial self-reliance with global integration. As Healthcare, Workforce & Medical Value Tourism Services Backed by Manufacturing Muscle Beyond factories and fabs, the Budget also strengthens healthcare’s service ecosystem crucial for India’s aspiration to become a global medical value tourism destination. Support for States to establish five Regional Medical Value Tourism Hubs, envisioned as integrated healthcare ecosystems comprising; ‘Advanced medical and surgical facilities, Medical education and research institutions, Diagnostics, rehabilitation, and post-treatment care, Dedicated facilitation centres for international patients thereto.
And it’ll be surely and possibly opening job-opportunities for various job-seekers at all ‘Allied Health Expansions’ be it ‘Expansion of institutions for Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), Coverage across diagnostics, clinical support, behavioural health, and caregiving etc. And structured training for multi-skilled caregivers, especially in geriatric and long-term care address both domestic healthcare gaps and the needs of international patients thereof.
The nation and its citizens must now ensure it is not allowed to slip away.
(The author is a Health expert)
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