“we want to encourage investment in the preventive and promotive (healthcare) sector. We see the private sector as strategic partners in our endeavour to provide universal healthcare,” the minister said.

The Ayushman Bharat has twin missions. First, creating a network of Health and Wellness Centres to deliver comprehensive primary healthcare close to the community, and second, providing insurance cover to 40 per cent of India’s population, that is most deprived, for secondary and tertiary care including for instance, hospitalization costs.