On Wednesday, doctors and medical experts applauded the Union Budget 2023–24′s announcement to establish 157 nursing colleges and increase healthcare funding. They stated that these initiatives will provide the Indian healthcare system with a significant boost. They added that this new budget is futuristic, strongly emphasizes medical research, and lays the groundwork for achieving universal health coverage.

The chairman of the board of management at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Dr. Ajay Swaroop, expressed his happiness that more money was allocated to the health sector this year. He noted that opening 157 nursing schools will contribute to closing the shortage of students required for nursing services.

According to Finance Minister Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman, who delivered the budget to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the 157 medical schools that have already been established since 2014 will co-locate with the 157 new nursing institutes. She continued by saying that in addition to raising awareness, the aim to eradicate sickle cell anemia will also involve counseling and the universal screening of 7 crore people in vulnerable tribal areas between the ages of 0 and 40.

She further added that facilities at a few ICMR laboratories will be made available to faculty members from public and private medical colleges and private sector research and development teams to foster joint research and innovation.

Dr. N. K. Pandey, MD, and Chairman of the Asian Institute of Medical Sciences stated the budget appears futuristic, with an emphasis on medical research, laboratory research and development, collaborative research, and innovation.

The founding chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group, Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, stated that taking care of the welfare of citizens is essential to nation-building. However, he also pointed out that the budget could have addressed a few other issues, such as the rationalization of the GST in the healthcare sector, gap funding for infrastructure to develop hospitals in Tier 2 cities, and capital contributions and subsidies for rural India.