Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilisers Anupriya Patel has said that India must move beyond its identity as the “Pharmacy of the World” and emerge as the “Laboratory of the World”, driven by research, innovation and emerging technologies.
She was addressing the third edition of the IIMA Healthcare Summit 2026 on the theme “Advancing AI in Healthcare” at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.
Highlighting the transformative potential of artificial intelligence in healthcare, she said AI could accelerate drug discovery, enable personalised treatment and strengthen healthcare delivery through improved screening, clinical decision-making and disease surveillance.
However, she stressed that the adoption of AI must be safe, responsible and human-centred, with strong safeguards for patient privacy. Ms Patel said, AI must complement, rather than replace, human clinical judgement.
She called for greater collaboration among the government, academia, healthcare institutions, startups and industry to move from pilot projects to population-level implementation. Ms Patel said Centres of Excellence for AI in healthcare have been established at AIIMS New Delhi, PGIMER Chandigarh and AIIMS Rishikesh.
The Minister also highlighted the government’s 5,000 crore rupees Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma-MedTech Sector (PRIP) scheme, aimed at strengthening research and industry-academia collaboration and supporting India’s transition towards innovation-led growth.
