Unstructured Data, Uneven Access: AI Takes On India’s Healthcare Test

Under the Bharat Startup Grand Challenge, Startup India and DPIIT, in collaboration with Rungta University and RuBI, have launched the AI for Healthy India Challenge

India’s healthcare system produces vast amounts of data, yet much of it remains fragmented, unstructured, and difficult to use. At the same time, access to timely diagnostics, specialist care, and efficient delivery continues to vary sharply across regions, affecting outcomes across diagnostics, mental health, and patient engagement. Addressing these structural gaps has become increasingly urgent, and artificial intelligence is now being positioned as part of the response.

Under the Bharat Startup Grand Challenge, Startup India and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), in collaboration with Rungta University and RuBI, have launched the AI for Healthy India Challenge, opening on 3rd December 2025.

Unlike broad innovation calls, this challenge is sharply focused on real-world healthcare problems. Nearly 80 per cent of India’s health records exist as unstructured clinical data, limiting their usefulness for diagnosis, continuity of care, personalised and precision medicine, and policy planning. The challenge calls on technologists and founders to develop AI-driven approaches that can make such data actionable at scale.

Beyond data, the problem statements extend to diagnostics, remote care, accessibility, and patient-centric systems, as well as health operations and management, where technology has shown promise but remains unevenly deployed. The emphasis is on solutions that can function within India’s healthcare realities rather than idealised models built for controlled environments.

RuBI (Rungta Business Incubator), based at Rungta University, will provide incubation support to shortlisted participants, offering structured mentorship and access to innovation infrastructure. The intent is to push ideas beyond concept stages and towards validation and implementation, including applications linked to robotics and other emerging areas.

The initiative reflects a broader policy shift that seeks to link entrepreneurship with public problem-solving. By anchoring this edition of the Bharat Startup Grand Challenge around healthcare, policymakers are signalling the need for solutions that move beyond pilot projects and address systemic constraints.

As artificial intelligence continues to influence healthcare globally, the success of such efforts in India will depend not on sophistication alone, but on relevance, scalability, and execution. The AI for Healthy India Challenge places these questions at the centre, inviting innovators to engage with the country’s healthcare system as it is, not as it should be.