India’s national telemedicine service, eSanjeevani, has crossed 50 crore teleconsultations, a milestone Prime Minister Narendra Modi singled out in the 139th episode of his monthly radio address, Mann Ki Baat, on 25 October. Calling the platform “an excellent example of the power of technology, the spirit of service of our doctors, and the trust of our fellow citizens”, the Prime Minister said the service has now reached even the remotest parts of the country.

The numbers behind the milestone

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, eSanjeevani passed the mark on 15 September 2026, logging a cumulative 50,00,92,730 consultations across all 36 States and Union Territories. Described by the ministry as the world’s largest telemedicine implementation in primary healthcare, the platform today supports:

• More than 1.42 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandir spokes
• 19,473 medical hubs and 901 online OPDs
• 2,41,923 registered healthcare providers
• Consultations in 15 languages, including English and 14 Indian languages

The service now handles roughly 2.5 to 3 lakh consultations a day, with a single-day peak of 6,30,315.

Who is using it

Usage data shows telemedicine is reaching groups for whom a hospital visit is often hardest. Women account for 57.14 per cent of all consultations, while 40.15 per cent are availed by people aged 46 and above, including 16.25 per cent by senior citizens over 60.

From video calls to AI-assisted care

Launched in 2019, eSanjeevani runs two models: doctor-to-doctor consultations, in which a health worker at an Ayushman Arogya Mandir connects a patient to a specialist at a hub, and direct patient-to-doctor online OPDs. The platform has recently added an AI-powered Clinical Decision Support System (AI-CDSS) that assists clinicians during consultations, and has been integrated with the ERSS-112 emergency response system. It has also moved beyond primary care, with premier government institutions now offering specialist OPDs through the service.

In the same address, the Prime Minister highlighted the role of more than 1.9 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs in bringing check-ups and medical advice closer to communities, and pointed to research at IIT Madras’s Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre, where scientists are using the Param Shakti supercomputer to build high-resolution 3D maps of 100 human brains.

Why it matters

For India’s digital health ecosystem, the 50-crore mark shows that telemedicine has become a routine part of public healthcare rather than a pandemic-era stopgap. States are now building on the backbone: Andhra Pradesh is preparing a statewide Sanjeevani rollout from 1 January 2027, and Tamil Nadu is planning specialist telemedicine hubs linked to rural facilities. The next test will be how well these consultations connect with ABHA-linked health records under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, so that a remote consultation becomes part of a patient’s continuous care record.

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