India's AI healthcare tools are stuck in pilot mode. What will it take to scale?

India's hospitals are teeming with artificial intelligence demos: slick presentations, promising pilots, and neatly packaged tools.

- DR SABINE KAPASI

But in practice, most of these innovations remain confined to labs, research papers, or isolated pilot sites.

According to the Economic Survey 2024-25, while 34% of healthcare organisations in India were experimenting with AI in 2023, only 16% had successfully operationalised even one tool in routine care.

The World Economic Forum estimates that AI could unlock $1 trillion in economic value for India by 2035. Yet, that future is slipping out of reach. Without clear pathways from pilot to scale, AI in Indian healthcare risks becoming a high-potential idea permanently stuck in the trial phase.

AI WAVE IN INDIA

Across India, a range of AI-driven tools are being tested in clinical settings, often with impressive results in limited deployments. Some notable examples from the past 2-3 years include Qure.ai's chest X-ray algorithm, which already analyses approximately 60,000 scans each month across 25 states, automatically flagging roughly 16,000 suspected tuberculosis cases for review. Rajasthan has integrated a similar AI model into its Silicosis Portal, enabling district boards to certify miners' lung damage more quickly.

These tools reduce diagnosis time to minutes and cost a fraction of the cost of specialist interpretation. Yet, they remain exceptions, not the norm.