India TB cases: India has cut tuberculosis (TB) incidence by 21% over the last decade, from 237 per lakh population in 2015 to 187 per lakh in 2024, the Health Ministry said, citing the WHO’s Global TB Report 2025. The decline is nearly twice the global average fall of 12%.
Officials credited an “innovative case-finding” drive, built on rapid adoption of new diagnostics, decentralised services and large-scale community mobilisation, for pushing treatment coverage to over 92% in 2024, up from 53% in 2015.
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Of an estimated 27 lakh TB cases last year, 26.18 lakh were diagnosed and put on treatment, sharply shrinking India’s “missing cases” from about 15 lakh in 2015 to under 1 lakh in 2024.
The ministry said there has been no significant rise in drug-resistant TB and that treatment success under the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan has reached 90%, ahead of the global 88% benchmark. TB mortality has also fallen, from 28 to 21 per lakh population between 2015 and 2024.
The gains, officials noted, follow a near tenfold rise in government funding for TB over nine years and intensified outreach since the launch of the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan in December 2024. The mission has screened over 19 crore vulnerable people, identifying more than 24.5 lakh TB patients, including 8.61 lakh asymptomatic cases, reflecting evidence of sub-clinical TB in high-burden settings.
Patient support has been expanded through nutrition and cash assistance. The monthly Direct Benefit Transfer under the Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana was doubled to Rs 1,000 per patient for the full treatment period. Since April 2018, Rs 4,406 crore has been transferred to 1.37 crore beneficiaries. Additionally, 6,77,541 individuals and organisations have enrolled as Ni-kshay Mitras, distributing over 45 lakh food baskets, underscoring a deepening public-private-community partnership in the TB response.