New Delhi: Ayurveda centres in New York’s Times Square and near the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Ayurveda electives in medical schools abroad, an international alumni network that would act as ambassadors for Ayurveda and a global registry to help practitioners work overseas—these are among the recommendations in a NITI Aayog roadmap that lays out the Modi government’s biggest push yet to take Ayurveda global.
Prepared by consultancy firm PwC for NITI Aayog, the 136-page “Strategic Roadmap for Making Ayurveda Global”, released Thursday, looks at why the healthcare branch has struggled to gain wider international acceptance and sets out a plan to change that.
Its central argument is that India must move beyond exporting herbal products and instead build institutions that can help Ayurveda grow as a recognised healthcare system abroad through research, education, regulation, insurance, diplomacy and trade.
The proposals build on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government’s decade-long effort to position traditional medicine as part of India’s global soft power.
Since creating the Ministry of Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) in 2014, the Centre has expanded funding for traditional medicine, backed the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Gujarat’s Jamnagar, introduced the Ayush Visa and established Ayush Chairs in universities abroad. The chairs support teaching, research and academic partnerships on AYUSH systems at foreign universities.
The ministry currently has AYUSH academic chairs in Bangladesh, Australia, Mauritius, Latvia and Malaysia.
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Borrowing from China’s playbook
Much of the roadmap draws from China’s success in taking Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) global.
TCM includes herbal remedies, acupuncture, cupping, massage and dietary therapy. Over the past few decades, China has invested heavily in research, education, practitioner licensing and quality standards, while integrating TCM into its healthcare system and promoting it overseas through dedicated centres and academic partnerships.
Today, TCM is taught in universities across the world and is part of mainstream healthcare in several countries.
Beyond China, the roadmap also points to Japan, where Kampo medicine is covered under the national health insurance system, the US, where acupuncture is reimbursed under Medicare for select conditions, and Germany, where complementary medicine practitioners can obtain a recognised Heilpraktiker (naturopath) licence. It argues that similar regulatory pathways, insurance pilots and international education programmes could help Ayurveda gain wider acceptance.
Building a global Ayurveda ecosystem
The roadmap says India should focus less on selling Ayurvedic products and more on building the ecosystem needed to practise Ayurveda abroad.
Among its proposals are a Global Ayurveda Register carrying internationally recognised credentials for practitioners, a digital portal with country-wise licensing and regulatory information, and efforts to negotiate bilateral agreements so qualified practitioners can legally work in more countries.
It also recommends introducing Ayurveda electives in foreign medical schools, expanding joint degree programmes with international universities and creating an international alumni network that would act as ambassadors for Ayurveda.
The roadmap also makes a strong pitch for branding.
It proposes setting up flagship Ayurveda centres at globally recognised locations, including Times Square in New York, Trafalgar Square in London, Marina Bay in Singapore, Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo and near the WHO headquarters in Geneva. It also suggests using Indian embassies to promote Ayurveda, partnering with global hotel and wellness chains, and running coordinated international campaigns.
Recognising yoga’s much wider global appeal, the report suggests packaging Ayurveda alongside yoga and meditation instead of promoting it as a standalone system.
Another recommendation is to work with private insurers to make Ayurveda treatments eligible for reimbursement and eventually allow insurance portability for international patients travelling to India.
The challenges
The roadmap acknowledges that taking Ayurveda global will not be easy.
Ayurveda is recognised to varying degrees in nearly 30 countries through licensing frameworks, academic collaborations and national health policies. India has more than 3,55,000 trained practitioners, but around 95% of them are based in the country, with overseas practice still largely limited to diaspora communities and integrative medicine centres.
According to the report, wider international adoption is held back by limited practitioner licensing, fragmented research, varying regulatory standards, low insurance coverage and the lack of internationally accepted clinical evidence. It calls for stronger research collaborations, globally aligned quality standards and internationally recognised training programmes to bridge these gaps.
At the same time, the report cautions that branding and diplomacy alone will not be enough. It says Ayurveda’s global ambitions will ultimately depend on stronger scientific evidence, better quality standards and wider regulatory recognition across international markets.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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