Ayushman enrolments see dip as private hospitals back off over rates, delays: Report
New Delhi: Empanelment of hospitals under the Ayushman Bharat-PM Jan Arogya Yojana has reportedly dropped significantly, from an average of 316 hospitals per month in 2024 to just 111 per month in 2025, as of April.
Data shared by the National Health Authority (NHA), as cited by Times of India on Monday, revealed that only 443 hospitals were empanelled under the AB-PMJAY across India over the first four months of 2025—161 in January, 187 in February, 40 in March, and 55 in April. The latest update for May shows just 20 hospitals were added to the scheme.
The significant drop has raised concerns among healthcare associations, who point to low package rates and delayed payments as the primary reasons for the waning interest from the private sector, especially among large corporate hospital chains.
However, a senior official from the NHA, the body responsible for implementing AB-PMJAY, sought to downplay the drop. “Empanelment is taking place and that some of the new empanelments may not have been updated as they were migrating to a new system,” TOI quoted him as saying.
The Indian Medical Association has also weighed in, urging the government to raise package rates to make treatment under the scheme more sustainable. "The rates should be raised to at least Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) level," the news outlet quoted an IMA office-bearer as saying.
According to Minister of State for Health Prataprao Jadhav, 609 private hospitals have voluntarily opted out of AB-PMJAY since 2018. "The reasons for hospitals voluntarily opting out include empanelment only for Covid period, hospitals were closed or non-functional, changes in hospital entity, hospital relocated, ongoing reconstruction or renovation, unavailability of specialist doctors, voluntary withdrawal from scheme, package rates, opting out due to certain treatment packages reserved for public hospitals only (Chhattisgarh and Gujarat), and no referral from public hospitals (Karnataka)," he said.
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India-bound LPG tanker clears Hormuz
New Delhi (PTI): A tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for India has sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz and is now headed towards the country, an official statement said on Sunday.
The Marshall Islands-flagged LPG carrier MT Sarv Shakti, loaded with 46,313 tonnes of LPG and staffed by 20 crew, including 18 Indians, cleared the key shipping chokepoint on May 2 and is expected to reach Visakhapatnam on May 13, it said.
The cargo -- enough to meet half a days requirement of the country -- will partly tide over supply constraints being faced since the start of the West Asia conflict more than two months back.
Ship-tracking data showed its position in Oman Gulf on Sunday evening.
The very large gas carrier has previously made runs between the Persian Gulf and Indian ports, has been chartered by state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
Sarv Shakti is the first India-linked tanker to cross the war zone since a weeks-old US blockade of ships tied to Iran began, pushing transits through Hormuz back down to almost zero.
There are as many as 14 Indian flagged or India-owned vessels still stranded on the west side of the Strait of Hormuz.
The statement said no incident involving Indian-flagged vessels has been reported in the past 24 hours. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is working closely with the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian missions and maritime stakeholders to ensure crew welfare and uninterrupted operations.
The Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) control room has handled 8,373 calls and more than 17,965 emails since activation, including 38 calls and 127 emails in the last 24 hours.
India has also facilitated the repatriation of more than 2,953 seafarers so far, including 31 in the past day from across the Gulf region.
Port operations across the country remain normal with no congestion reported, the statement added.
