ICMR-NIRDHDS has opened an application window for institutions to host partner consultations part of the development of India’s first comprehensive National AI Strategy for Health. Consultations are scheduled between 10 December 2025 and 10 January 2026, aiming to build an inclusive, ethical, and people-centred AI roadmap for healthcare.
Glimpse:
Institutions including academic bodies, public health organisations, industry players, think-tanks and civil-society groups can apply to host consultation sessions until 8 December 2025. These consultations will gather multi-sectoral input from technologists, clinicians, researchers, policymakers, and community representatives to inform data governance, equity, AI adoption and policy frameworks under the new national strategy.
The apex health-research body ICMR-NIRDHDS has formally invited institutions across India to participate in a series of “Partner Consultations” to help draft the country’s first National AI Strategy for Health. The move signals a push toward co-creating a responsible, inclusive and ethically grounded AI roadmap for the health sector.
Under the initiative, any eligible organisation from universities and public-health institutes to industry bodies, NGOs, multilateral organisations and digital-health startups can apply to host a consultation session. The application window runs until 8 December 2025, and the consultations themselves will occur between 10 December 2025 and 10 January 2026.
These consultations are intended to bring together a wide array of stakeholders: public-health specialists, AI and data-science experts, clinicians, civil-society representatives, health-system administrators and industry leaders. The goal: to map out priorities, ethical guidelines, data-governance frameworks, equity concerns, implementation challenges, and governance mechanisms ensuring that AI adoption in health improves care while safeguarding rights, privacy, and fairness.
The process is backed by institutional partners including World Health Organization South-East Asia Region (WHO-SEARO) and Koita Centre for Digital Health (KCDH), linked to Ashoka University providing technical support and helping ensure the charter is aligned with global best practices while staying relevant to India’s context.
ICMR-NIRDHDS, which earlier this year signed MoUs with other academic institutions (for example, IIT Ropar) to collaborate on digital-health innovation, reinforces India’s growing emphasis on data-driven health research, AI adoption, and interdisciplinary cooperation positioning this strategy as a keystone for future public-health transformations.
“By inviting institutions from every corner of India, we are building a health-AI strategy that is inclusive, ethical and grounded in real-world needs — not just a top-down policy, but a national commitment.”
By
HB Team
