Mega Health Scheme Needs Rs 6000-8000 Crore For 6 Months: Ayushman Bharat CEO

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced the mega healthcare scheme Ayushman Bharat, which he said will be rolled out on September 25. Can the centre get all the states and Union Territories, like Odisha which has refused to join the scheme, on board in the next six weeks? Ayushman Bharat CEO Indu Bhushan, speaking to NDTV said, "we are very hopeful that all states including Odisha will come on board but I can't say Odisha will come on board before September 25. But as far as other states are concerned, I am quite hopeful that almost all of them will be on board". He went on to give the estimated amount of money required to implement this scheme for six months of this fiscal. "We believe that we will need about Rs 6,000 crore to 8,000 crore... Centre provides only 60 per cent and 60 per cent will be about Rs 4,000 crore. We had Rs 2,000 crore but we have asked for some additional resources in supplementary budget request, so that should not be a problem," he said.