From world-class research infrastructure and AI-driven innovation to historic WHO recognition and mass public health outreach, Ayush moves decisively from heritage to mainstream healthcare.

As 2025 draws to a close, the Ministry of Ayush has emerged as one of India’s most consequential health-policy success stories—transforming traditional medicine into a credible, evidence-based, and globally integrated pillar of healthcare. Aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047, the year marked a structural shift: Ayush systems moved from the periphery of public health to the centre of India’s domestic health strategy and international health diplomacy.

Across Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy, the Ministry delivered on three fronts simultaneously—science, scale, and global stature—reshaping how traditional medicine is researched, regulated, financed, and delivered.

Infrastructure and Research: Building Global-Grade Institutions

A defining milestone came with Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation stone for the new Central Ayurveda Research Institute (CARI) campus in Rohini, Delhi. Spread across 2.92 acres with an investment of Rs 187 crore, the state-of-the-art facility will house a 100-bed research hospital, specialised clinics, advanced laboratories and training centres—ending decades of infrastructural constraints and signaling a new era for Ayurveda research and clinical excellence.

Complementing this, Ayush institutions across the country—from AIIA Goa to NIH Kolkata—expanded hospitals, hostels, integrative oncology units and Centres of Excellence, reinforcing India’s ambition to become the world’s health and wellness capital.

Global Recognition: WHO and the Mainstreaming of Traditional Medicine

2025 will be remembered as the year traditional medicine secured its strongest global validation yet. The World Health Organization’s ICD-11 update, introducing a dedicated module for Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani, enables formal global disease reporting, dual coding, and interoperable health data—placing traditional systems firmly within modern evidence frameworks.

India further consolidated its leadership by:

Co-hosting the Second WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine in New Delhi

Driving adoption of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034

Launching global initiatives such as the Traditional Medicine Global Library and Ayush Mark as a quality benchmark

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus openly acknowledged India’s role in elevating traditional medicine “from heritage to mainstream healthcare.”

Technology and AI: From Ancient Wisdom to Frontier Science

A landmark WHO technical brief on AI in Traditional Medicine identified India as a global benchmark, citing platforms such as Ayush Grid, Ayurgenomics, SAHI, NAMASTE, TKDL and the Ayush Research Portal. These initiatives are enabling Prakriti-based diagnostics, genomic validation of formulations, predictive analytics and digital regulation—bridging millennia-old knowledge with 21st-century science.

With the Ayush market valued at USD 43.4 billion, the Ministry has made a strategic pivot toward data-driven credibility and investor confidence.

Public Health at Scale: From Maha Kumbh to Mental Health

Ayush demonstrated its capacity for population-scale healthcare delivery in 2025. At the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, over 9 lakh pilgrims accessed Ayush services through OPDs, mobile units, yoga halls and preventive care camps. The distribution of Ayush Raksha kits, mass yoga sessions and medicinal plant saplings highlighted a uniquely Indian model of preventive, participatory healthcare.

Equally significant were targeted interventions—from homoeopathy in disaster mental health to biosafety and outbreak preparedness training, reinforcing Ayush’s role in resilient health systems.

Diplomacy and Global Partnerships: Health as Soft Power

India’s traditional medicine diplomacy deepened substantially. Key milestones included:

An MoU with Indonesia on traditional medicine quality assurance

Expansion of BIMSTEC cooperation through a proposed Centre of Excellence

Strengthened ties with Germany, Brazil, Cuba and WHO-IRCH

High-level engagement through the Group of Friends of Traditional Medicine (GFTM) in Geneva

These partnerships position Ayush as both a public health asset and a geopolitical instrument, aligning health cooperation with India’s broader foreign policy objectives.

Mass Movements and Cultural Leadership

From the 11th International Day of Yoga, led by Prime Minister Modi with a record-breaking gathering of 3 lakh participants, to the Desh Ka Prakriti Parikshan Abhiyaan, which logged 1.29 crore assessments and five Guinness World Records, Ayush in 2025 demonstrated an unmatched ability to mobilise citizens at scale.

Investment and Industry: Making Ayush Capital-Ready

The launch of Ayush Nivesh Saarthi, in partnership with Invest India, marked a strategic shift toward positioning Ayush as an investment-ready global sector. The platform offers investors a single-window view of policies, incentives and projects—signalling the government’s intent to catalyse entrepreneurship and global capital in traditional medicine.

The Big Picture

In 2025, the Ministry of Ayush did more than expand programmes—it reset the narrative. Traditional medicine is no longer framed as alternative or informal; it is increasingly scientific, regulated, digital, investable and globally relevant.

As India looks toward 2030 and beyond, Ayush stands out as a rare sector where heritage, innovation, public health and diplomacy converge—quietly but decisively shaping India’s role in the future of global healthcare.