ASSOCHAM hosted the sixth edition of The HealthMeet and Excellence Awards 2026, with the theme The Future of Health: Human Centered AI. Important policymakers, business executives, and opinion leaders attended the event. Chief Guest Dr. Indranil Khan, a West Bengal Legislative Assembly member, highlighted in his speech how West Bengal is well-positioned to develop into a major hub for biomedical engineering, pharmaceutical innovation, health-tech entrepreneurship, and AI-driven medical research. He promised that workforce training, digital literacy, ethical AI governance, and responsible innovation would remain the main areas of policy support.

Dr. Khan placed a lot of emphasis on enhancing the state’s healthcare system. He predicted that the health sector in West Bengal would undergo a revolution very soon. He promised that recipients would soon receive ABHA cards and be included in Ayushman Bharat, the largest health insurance program in the world. Political affiliations and interests will no longer be given priority in West Bengal. All focus should be on providing the best treatment to patients in both public and private hospitals”, Dr. Khan continued.

Additionally, Mr. Debarshi Duttagupta, Chairman of the ASSOCHAM Healthcare Council West Bengal, said during the Welcome Address that the government and industry should collaborate to help healthcare professionals make quicker and more accurate decisions, improve patient outcomes, lessen healthcare disparities, and use AI effectively to bring high-quality care closer to every citizen.

West Bengal has long been a hub for medical education, scientific excellence, public health leadership, and pharmaceutical capability, according to Dr. Sombrata Roy, Co-Chairman of the ASSOCHAM Healthcare Council West Bengal, in his keynote address. He went on to say that cooperation between government, business, healthcare organizations, startups, academia, and tech innovators will be crucial to the delivery of healthcare in the future.

Mr. Abanis Nayak, Chairman of the ASSOCHAM Odisha Startup Council and founder and director of ZTOP IOT Solutions Pvt Ltd; Dr. Ajay Swaroop, Chairman of the Board of Management at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital; and Dr. Rupali Basu, Regional Business Head (East & AP) at HCG Cancer Hospitals, each gave a speech on the theme.

The Executive Director and CTO of Primus Partners, Mr. Avijit Dhar, emphasized that the careful integration of technology into human systems of care will be the driving force behind India’s healthcare transformation rather than technology alone. Collaboration between the government, healthcare organizations, academic institutions, innovators, civil society, and frontline workers is necessary for the future.

During the event, ASSOCHAM and Primus Partners released a Knowledge Report titled AI in Healthcare – From Instinct to Inference. The Knowledge Report focuses on the state of AI integration in the Indian healthcare industry and offers a timely and thorough analysis of how digitization and AI are starting to transform India’s healthcare ecosystem by making it more resilient, equitable, and accessible.

Priyanka Dutta