India’s digital transformation story has often been associated with UPI, Aadhaar, and Direct Benefit Transfers. However, another ambitious digital public infrastructure initiative is quietly reshaping the country’s healthcare landscape. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), launched under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has now crossed a landmark milestone of 90 crore Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts (ABHAs), signalling the rapid emergence of one of the world’s largest digital health ecosystems.
The milestone, announced by the National Health Authority (NHA) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on May 30, represents far more than just a numerical achievement. It shows a fundamental shift in how healthcare records are created, stored, shared, and accessed in India. By enabling citizens to maintain a secure digital health identity linked to their medical history, the Modi government’s flagship initiative aims to eliminate many of the inefficiencies that have long plagued India’s healthcare system.
The achievement also demonstrates the growing success of the Digital India vision in extending beyond governance and financial services into healthcare, one of the most critical sectors affecting the lives of ordinary citizens.
A digital health identity for every Indian
At the centre of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is the Ayushman Bharat Health Account, popularly known as ABHA. The ABHA number is a unique 14-digit digital health identity that allows citizens to securely access, manage, and share their health records with healthcare providers through a consent-based framework.
For decades, healthcare records in India largely remained fragmented. Patients often carried physical prescriptions, diagnostic reports, hospital discharge summaries, and other medical documents from one healthcare facility to another. This frequently resulted in duplication of tests, loss of records, and delays in treatment.
ABHA seeks to address these challenges by creating a longitudinal digital health record that can be securely accessed across healthcare providers and digital health applications. Through this system, patients gain greater ownership and control over their medical information while healthcare providers benefit from better continuity of care.
The rapid expansion of ABHA accounts highlights how citizens across the country are increasingly embracing digital health solutions.
Remarkable growth since launch
The pace of ABHA adoption has been particularly impressive. Since the launch of ABDM, the number of health accounts has grown steadily year after year.
Official data shows that cumulative ABHA creation stood at 14.7 crore in 2021. This increased to 30.4 crore in 2022, followed by 50.6 crore in 2023, 72.2 crore in 2024, and 84.5 crore in 2025. In 2026, the platform crossed the historic milestone of 90 crore ABHAs, making it one of the largest digital health identity programmes anywhere in the world.
The numbers indicate not merely technological adoption but growing public trust in digital healthcare infrastructure. They also demonstrate the ability of India’s digital public infrastructure model to scale rapidly across a population of more than 1.4 billion people.
Speaking on the achievement, National Health Authority CEO Dr. Sunil Kumar Barnwal noted that the creation of over 90 crore ABHAs reflects the active participation of citizens, states, union territories, healthcare providers, and ecosystem partners.
According to him, ABHA represents a critical step toward empowering citizens with secure, consent-based access to their own health information while supporting continuity of care and reducing dependence on physical medical records.
States drive nationwide adoption
One of the most significant aspects of the milestone is the broad participation witnessed across states and union territories.
Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the leading contributor with more than 15.3 crore ABHAs, reflecting the scale at which digital health services are being adopted in India’s most populous state.
The state’s performance is followed by Rajasthan and Maharashtra, each with over 7.1 crore ABHAs. Bihar has recorded more than 6.3 crore ABHAs, while West Bengal has crossed 5.9 crore accounts.
Substantial contributions have also come from Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Jammu & Kashmir, highlighting the truly national character of the initiative.
The widespread adoption across diverse geographical regions demonstrates that the digital health revolution is not confined to metropolitan centres but is increasingly reaching smaller towns and rural areas as well.
Smaller territories lead in saturation
Beyond absolute numbers, several states and union territories have achieved impressive levels of ABHA saturation relative to their population.
According to official figures, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu have achieved complete saturation.
Among larger states and union territories, Andhra Pradesh leads with an impressive 98.5 percent ABHA saturation rate, followed by Odisha at 91.9 percent, Chandigarh at 90.8 percent, Rajasthan at 89.7 percent, Himachal Pradesh at 88.9 percent, and Chhattisgarh at 86.6 percent.
Several other states, including Telangana, Tripura, and Jammu & Kashmir, have crossed the 75 percent mark.
These figures indicate the success of collaborative efforts between the Centre and states in expanding digital healthcare access.
Women at the centre of digital health inclusion
An important feature of the ABHA milestone is the growing participation of women.
According to government data, women account for 49.75 percent of all ABHA holders, representing nearly half of India’s digital health users.
This development holds particular significance in a country where women, especially in rural and remote areas, have often faced barriers in accessing healthcare services and maintaining medical records.
By enabling secure digital access to health information, ABHA can play a transformative role in improving maternal healthcare, child health services, immunisation tracking, and long-term disease management.
The near-equal participation of women suggests that the benefits of India’s digital health revolution are being shared across gender lines, supporting the government’s broader objective of inclusive development.
Building the foundations of a digital healthcare ecosystem
The success of ABHA is part of a much larger vision under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
ABDM is designed to establish an interoperable digital health ecosystem through multiple digital public infrastructure components. These include the Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR), Health Facility Registry (HFR), Health Information Exchange and Consent Manager (HIE-CM), Unified Health Interface (UHI), and the National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX).
Together, these platforms create a framework where healthcare providers, hospitals, laboratories, insurers, and digital health applications can securely exchange information while maintaining patient consent and privacy.
The approach mirrors India’s success with digital public infrastructure in other sectors, particularly financial services, where platforms like Aadhaar and UPI have transformed service delivery at an unprecedented scale.
Reducing paperwork and improving patient care
One of the most practical benefits of ABHA lies in reducing the dependence on physical medical documents.
Patients often struggle to maintain years of prescriptions, reports, and diagnostic records. In emergencies, the absence of previous medical history can delay treatment decisions.
With ABHA-enabled health records, patients can securely share relevant medical information with healthcare providers whenever necessary. This can help doctors make better-informed clinical decisions while reducing the need for repeated investigations and paperwork.
The resulting improvements in efficiency, transparency, and continuity of care are expected to strengthen healthcare outcomes over time.
Digital India meets healthcare
The crossing of the 90-crore milestone is another indicator of how the Modi government has expanded the scope of Digital India beyond governance and financial inclusion.
From Aadhaar-enabled service delivery and direct benefit transfers to UPI-led payment innovation and now digital healthcare infrastructure, India has increasingly leveraged technology to address large-scale public challenges.
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission represents the healthcare dimension of this transformation. By creating a trusted, interoperable, and citizen-centric digital health ecosystem, the government aims to ensure that healthcare delivery becomes more efficient, transparent, and accessible.
As the National Health Authority continues working with states, healthcare providers, and private-sector partners, the focus remains on expanding adoption and integrating more services into the digital health framework.
The creation of over 90 crore ABHA accounts is therefore not merely a statistical milestone. It is a reflection of India’s broader digital transformation journey, one that seeks to empower citizens, strengthen public service delivery, and build a healthcare ecosystem capable of serving the needs of a rapidly evolving nation.
