In a major relief for cancer patients and their families, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, February 1 announced significant customs duty relief to make cancer treatment more affordable. during her Union Budget 2026-27 speech on Sunday, FM Sitharaman proposed a full exemption from basic customs duty on 17 critical drugs used by cancer patients. This move is intended to reduce out-of-pocket expenses for families relying on imported oncology therapies.
“To provide relief to patients, particularly those suffering from cancer, I propose to exempt basic customs duty on 17 drugs or medicines. I propose also to add 7 more rare diseases for the purposes of exempting import duties on personal import of drugs, medicines and food for special medical purposes used in their treatment,” she said.
The list of newly exempted medicines includes Ribociclib, Abemaciclib, Venetoclax, Ibrutinib, and Trastuzumab deruxtecan, among others. The Finance Minister also added seven more rare diseases to the list eligible for import duty exemptions on medicines and specialised medical food.
The Tax Collected at Source (TCS) on medical remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) has been reduced from 5% to 2% with an aim to support to families travelling abroad for cancer treatment.
BioPharma SHAKTI and other Healthcare Initiatives
The Finance Minister further outlined initiatives to boost traditional medicine infrastructure, including setting up three new All India Institutes of Ayurveda, upgrading AYUSH pharmacies and drug-testing laboratories to enhance skilled manpower, and expanding the “WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine” in Jamnagar to bolster evidence-based research, training and awareness for traditional medicine.
“India’s disease burden is observed to be shifting towards non-communicable diseases like diabetes, cancer and auto-immune diseases. Biological medicines are key to longevity and quality of life at affordable costs,” Sitharaman said.
A new national programme with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore over five years was launched to boost domestic manufacturing of biologics and biosimilars for cancer and other chronic disorders. To develop India as a global Biopharma manufacturing hub, FM Sitharaman proposed the Biopharma SHAKTI (Strategy for Healthcare Advancement Through Knowledge, Technology and Innovation) with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crores over the next 5 years. This is aimed to build the ecosystem for domestic production of biologics and biosimilars.
The government plans to establish 200 day-care cancer centres in district hospitals within the year to improve local access to treatment.
Focus on Mental Health
The Finance Minister also noted the lack of national institutes for mental healthcare in north India. Therefore, the Union Budget announced the setting up of a NIMHANS-2 and the upgrading of National Mental Health Institutes in Ranchi (Jharkhand) and Tezpur (Assam) as Regional Apex Institutions.
Further, the emergency capacities of District Hospitals will be strengthened and increased by 50% by establishing Emergency and Trauma Care Centres. The establishment of NIMHANS 2.0 in North India aims to address the regional lack of premier mental healthcare institutions.
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