National Health Authority / Ministry of Health
Issue Ayushman Bharat health cards to all 50 crore eligible beneficiaries by December 2025
PM-JAY's card issuance drive aimed to deliver a physical or digital Ayushman card to every eligible beneficiary (bottom 40% income group) by December 2025 — enabling cashless hospital treatment nationwide.
Overall Progress
National Health Authority / Ministry of Health
₹7,200 crore (NHA administration FY26)
December 31, 2025 (missed; no revised date)
Progress Snapshot
9.6 crore cards issued of 50 crore target (19%)
19%Last updated: Mar 18, 2026 · Source: National Health Authority PM-JAY Dashboard
Milestones
5 crore cards issued
Target: Mar 2024
4.2 crore — missed
25 crore cards issued
Target: Sep 2025
8.1 crore — missed
50 crore cards issued
Target: Dec 2025
9.6 crore — missed
Revised target
Target: TBD
Not announced
Update Log
Mar 18, 2026
NHA dashboard: 9.6 crore Ayushman cards issued — 3 months past December 2025 deadline. NHA has not announced a revised issuance target.
Feb 28, 2026
CAG audit: 30% of PM-JAY claims had procedural irregularities — raises questions about scheme integrity at empanelled hospitals.
Jan 15, 2026
Union Budget 2026 expands PM-JAY to all citizens above 70 years — adds estimated 4.5 crore new eligible beneficiaries.
Dec 31, 2025
Card issuance deadline passed. 40.4 crore eligible beneficiaries still without a card. NHA says 'drive is ongoing'.
How we track this
We track NHA's official PM-JAY card issuance data, which updates daily on their dashboard. We separately track the gap between cards issued vs cards used — a large share of issued cards are not activated or used for hospitalisation.