Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM)

What is PM-ABHIM?

Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) is a health infrastructure programme of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, launched by the Prime Minister on 25 October 2021 with an outlay of Rs 64,180 crore for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26. According to the Press Information Bureau, PM-ABHIM is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with some Central Sector components, and its stated aim is to develop the capacities of health systems and institutions across the continuum of care - primary, secondary and tertiary - so that India can respond to current and future pandemics and disasters.

PM-ABHIM is not a benefit scheme. PM-ABHIM has no beneficiary list, no card and no cash transfer. What it does is pay for the physical and institutional plumbing of public health: sub-centre buildings that never existed, urban health centres, block-level public health units, district laboratories, critical care blocks, surveillance labs and research institutions. Readers most often arrive here expecting an application form, and there is none.

Key objectives

• Build and strengthen primary health infrastructure in rural and urban areas.
• Create block, district and regional public health institutions capable of detecting and responding to disease outbreaks.
• Expand laboratory and diagnostic capacity down to the district level.
• Establish critical care capacity in districts so severe illness is treatable locally.
• Strengthen national institutions for disease surveillance, research and pandemic preparedness.

Main features - the mission in numbers

According to PIB, the major infrastructure components of PM-ABHIM include:

• 17,788 building-less rural sub-centres constructed as Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (the renamed Health and Wellness Centres).
• 11,024 urban Health and Wellness Centres, now Urban Ayushman Arogya Mandirs.
• 3,382 Block Public Health Units (BPHUs) at block level.
• 730 District Integrated Public Health Laboratories (IPHLs).
• 602 Critical Care Hospital Blocks (CCBs) in all districts with a population above 5 lakh.

The mission also supports the National Centre for Disease Control, integrated public health laboratories at regional level, BSL-III laboratories, operational research and the Integrated Health Information Portal.

Who is eligible under PM-ABHIM?

Who can access PM-ABHIM funding:

• State and union territory governments, through their health departments and State Health Societies, by including PM-ABHIM components in the annual National Health Mission Programme Implementation Plan.
• Central institutions named in the Central Sector components - for example the National Centre for Disease Control and designated national laboratories.
• Districts with a population above 5 lakh qualify for a Critical Care Hospital Block; every district qualifies for an Integrated Public Health Laboratory.

You cannot apply if:

• You are an individual citizen. PM-ABHIM pays no money to individuals and issues no entitlement card. There is no beneficiary registration, no portal login and no eligibility test for a person.
• You are a private hospital, diagnostic chain, NGO or company hoping to receive a grant. PM-ABHIM funds are released to states; private firms can participate only as contractors or suppliers through the state government's own tender and procurement process.
• You are a researcher or institution seeking a personal grant - research support under PM-ABHIM flows through the named central institutions, not through an open individual call.

This is the point most readers get wrong: PM-ABHIM is an infrastructure mission, and no individual is eligible for a personal benefit under it.

What documents are required for PM-ABHIM?

The document list applies to state governments and implementing agencies, not to citizens.

How to apply for PM-ABHIM funds

There is no citizen application. The institutional route is as follows:

1. The district health administration identifies gaps - a block without a public health unit, a district hospital without critical care beds, sub-centres operating out of rented rooms - and prepares district proposals.
2. The state health department consolidates these into the PM-ABHIM component of the annual National Health Mission Programme Implementation Plan, with Detailed Project Reports and land certificates for civil works.
3. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare appraises the PIP through the National Programme Coordination Committee and issues a Record of Proceedings approving the year's outlay.
4. Funds are released to the State Health Society, which executes the works through the state public works department or a designated construction agency.
5. The state submits utilisation certificates and physical progress reports before subsequent instalments are released.
6. Private contractors and equipment suppliers participate by bidding in the state's tenders on its e-procurement portal - not by applying to the central ministry.

What does PM-ABHIM mean for an ordinary patient?

PM-ABHIM changes what exists near you rather than what you are entitled to claim. In practical terms:

• An Ayushman Arogya Mandir in your village or ward offering free primary care, screening for hypertension, diabetes and common cancers, and a stock of essential medicines.
• A Block Public Health Unit that can investigate an outbreak in your block instead of waiting for a district team.
• A District Integrated Public Health Laboratory that runs a defined package of diagnostic tests free of charge, so samples need not be sent to a state capital.
• A Critical Care Hospital Block at your district hospital, so intensive care does not require a four-hour ambulance journey.

To use any of these, you simply walk in. No PM-ABHIM card exists.

How PM-ABHIM differs from other Ayushman Bharat programmes

• Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY is health insurance - up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for hospitalisation at empanelled hospitals, with a beneficiary card and an eligibility test.
• Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission builds the digital layer - ABHA health IDs and health records.
• PM-ABHIM builds the bricks, laboratories and equipment.
• The National Health Mission pays the recurring costs of running the system - staff, drugs, ambulances, outreach.

All four sit under the Ayushman Bharat umbrella, which is why the names get confused. Only PM-JAY gives an individual something to claim.

Progress and monitoring

PM-ABHIM progress is reported by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in Parliament replies and PIB releases rather than on a public beneficiary dashboard. According to PIB updates on the mission, approvals to states are issued annually against the NHM Programme Implementation Plan, and component-wise physical progress for sub-centres, urban centres, BPHUs, IPHLs and CCBs is tracked centrally. For the position in a specific state or district, the State Health Society or the district NHM office is the correct source.

Help and grievance redressal

• State health helpline: 104 - for services at the facilities PM-ABHIM funds
• National Health Helpline: 1075
• District Programme Manager, National Health Mission - for questions about a specific facility or construction status in your district
• State Health Society - for tender, contract and project queries
• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare via mohfw.gov.in for policy queries

No agent can register you as a PM-ABHIM beneficiary, because no such registration exists. Treat any offer to do so as a fraud.