NHA, IIT Delhi to jointly work towards quality health services in India

The collaboration will support innovators and entrepreneurs to further improve healthcare services in India.  

The National Health Authority (NHA) has collaborated with Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) to improve healthcare innovations. Through the partnership, the NHA will be a technical collaborator on the US Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported SAMRIDH Healthcare Blended Financing Facility. IIT Delhi serves as the hosting entity for SAMRIDH. The initiative is implemented by a technical support unit, managed by IPE Global.  

SAMRIDH healthcare blended financing facility aims at catalysing market-based health solutions to improve access to affordable and quality healthcare services for poor and vulnerable communities, particularly for Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PMJAY) beneficiaries. SAMRIDH has mobilised a capital pool of $100+ million from private sector and development funders. It leverages this fund to offer both grant and debt financing provision to healthcare enterprises and innovators.  

Through this partnership, NHA and IIT Delhi will support innovative solutions to address the needs and priorities of the AB PMJAY ecosystem. The collaboration will be crucial to support rapid scaling and absorption of health innovations across more than 23,000 PMJAY empanelled hospitals. The innovations supported through the SAMIRDH facility will improve the health infrastructure, build capacity of healthcare providers, and build effective COVID-19 mitigation - all in the pursuit to achieve ‘health for all’ in India.  

Dr RS Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, NHA, said, “It is our pleasure to collaborate with IIT Delhi on SAMRIDH facility. Through this partnership, we will work with diverse health sector players to scale high potential health solutions and amplify the impact of Ayushman Bharat PMJAY. I am extremely confident that in years to come, this partnership will be a key enabler in making quality healthcare services in India more accessible and affordable.”  

Prof V Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi, said, “We welcome this opportunity to work with the NHA to deconstruct the key challenges in delivering healthcare services across PMJAY empanelled health facilities and support enterprises in addressing the gaps with indigenous innovations. SAMRIDH will provide a platform to facilitate affordable capital for scaling up of commercially viable innovations. The facility will also extend mentorship to enterprises from clinical, technology and business experts.” 

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