New Delhi, Mar 25 (BNP): The government has launched a series of initiatives to promote the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in cancer screening, diagnostics, and care under the India AI Mission, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

A key initiative, the Cancer AI & Technology Challenge (CATCH) grant programme, has been launched in partnership with the National Cancer Grid to support development and validation of AI-based solutions across the cancer care continuum.

 

Under the programme, selected projects are eligible for pilot funding of up to ₹50 lakh, with additional support of up to ₹1 crore for scale-up based on clinical readiness.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also introduced the ‘Strategy for AI in Healthcare in India’ (SAHI), a framework to ensure safe, ethical, and evidence-based adoption of AI, along with the ‘Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI’ (BODH) for testing and validating AI solutions before large-scale deployment.

Officials said digital health infrastructure is being strengthened to support AI integration. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) provides a sandbox environment and integration toolkits for developers to deploy AI-based applications, including screening tools.

In addition, the National NCD Portal under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases enables digital screening, referrals, and continuity of care for cancers such as breast, cervical, and oral, with integration of Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) IDs.

The government said funding under the programme has increased steadily, with approvals rising from ₹60,659 lakh in 2021–22 to ₹1,30,288 lakh in 2025–26.

The information was provided by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.