In a significant step for mental health, India is set to get a second NIMHANS – this one in North India – while two other Centre-run mental health institutes, in Tezpur and Ranchi, will be strengthened.

The announcement in this regard was made by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Union Budget 2026-2027 on Sunday.

Established in 1974 in Bengaluru, India’s lone NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences) is a multidisciplinary institute for patient care, known for performing cutting-edge research in the field of mental health and neurosciences.

“There has been a special focus on mental health in this year’s budget, which is a welcome move,” said Union Health Minister J P Nadda.

The location for the second NIMHANS has not been finalised yet, according to officials from the Union health ministry.

The previous National Mental Health Survey, held in 2015-16, found a 70% to 92% treatment gap in mental health conditions.

“There are no national institutes for mental healthcare in north India. We will, therefore, set up a NIMHANS-2 and also upgrade National Mental Health Institutes in Ranchi (in Jharkhand) and Tezpur (Assam) as Regional Apex Institutions,” Sitharaman said while announcing the measure.

Dr Pratima Murthy, NIMHANS director, said, “There is a huge treatment gap when it comes to mental health conditions, which needs to be addressed at all levels of healthcare, beginning from primary health centres. NIMHANS-like institutions are, however, extremely important to train specialists and even the general medicine physicians in psychiatric and neurological disorders. There is a deficit of trained psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and such institutes are key to developing the human resources.”
Dr Murthy said that the institute has played an important role in national mental health policy and programmes. “NIMHANS undertakes a lot of awareness-building in mental health and neurosciences and engages in cutting-edge research, particularly what can be translated from the bench to the bedside, and bedside to the community. Recently, NIMHANS provided leadership to the TeleMANAS programme and is involved in the second national mental health survey. Hence, on many counts, it has become a model centre for the country, region and even globally,” she said.

A 1,000-bed standalone mental hospital, NIMHANS provides specialised care for several mental health and neurological disorders, handling nearly 2,000-3,000 patients in its out-patient clinics.

Of the 72 mental health hospitals and centres of excellence supported by the National Mental Health Programme, the highest – 25 – are in north India. “While there are several state government hospitals across the country, including north India, specialised Central government hospitals do not exist in the region. The two Central-government run hospitals in Tezpur and Ranchi, now being strengthened, can cater to people from the East and Central regions of the country, with NIMHANS taking care of those in the South. So, the new centre in the North can cater to the people here,” said Dr Rajinder Dhamija, chair of the government’s National Task Force on Brain Health.

This, he said, would create a network for mental health akin to the one that exists for cancer.

“We do get referrals from across the country and this is the reason that more regional centres have to be established,” said Dr Murthy. NIMHANS is the coordinating centre for the TeleMANAS programme, which provides on-call mental health services across the country.