PRE-BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS 2013-2014 – Dr Sanjeev K Chaudhry, MD, SRL Diagnostics

India’s twelfth five year plan seeks to increase the role of the state sector in the healthcare economy while recognising the critical complementarity of the private sector in meeting the national health agenda. The Union Budget 2013-14 must reflect the importance of private diagnostics sector as a significant pillar of India’s healthcare delivery. The budget should recognise the costs incurred by the private sector in maintaining high quality of services and in seeking and maintaining both national and international accreditations. Tax exemptions and concessions for NABL-accredited labs will motivate the vast majority of non-accredited labs to improve their quality standards and seek accreditation. The health check concessions announced in the last budget have not taken off and it would help if the Finance Minister were to recognise the role of NABL and NABH accredited labs and hospitals in delivering these services. To enable the private sector diagnostic companies to offer cheaper prices to patients, it is important to offer import duty rebate on reagents and consumables that are essential for providing quality services.