With 20,138 Organ Transplants In 2025, India Recorded Highest-Ever Tally: National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation

New Delhi: India achieved a historic milestone in organ transplantation in 2025, recording its highest-ever annual tally of 20,138 organ transplants, according to the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) annual report 2025-26 released here on Monday.

The figure marks a fourfold increase from 4,990 transplants in 2013 and a 6.5 per cent rise over the 18,911 transplants performed in 2024, reflecting the steady expansion of the country’s organ donation and transplantation programme.

The report was released by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel during the 16th Indian Organ Donation Day (IODD) celebrations in New Delhi, where the government also reiterated its commitment to strengthening the national transplantation ecosystem through policy reforms, infrastructure expansion and public awareness campaigns.

According to the report, India retained its position as the world’s largest performer of living donor organ transplants, while ranking third globally in the total number of organ transplants, behind only the United States and China.

The report also highlights significant progress in deceased donor transplantation, a critical component of addressing the country’s growing demand for organs. Deceased donor organ transplants increased from just 837 in 2013 to 3,526 in 2025, representing more than a fourfold rise over the past decade.

Another encouraging indicator was the growing public willingness to support organ donation. More than 2.58 lakh citizens pledged to donate their organs and tissues during 2025, demonstrating increasing awareness and acceptance of organ donation across the country.

Despite these achievements, Patel acknowledged that India continues to face a substantial gap between the demand for organs and their availability.

Addressing the gathering, she described organ donation as the “highest expression of compassion”, as it gives patients suffering from end-stage organ failure a second chance at life.

“Misconceptions surrounding organ donation continue to remain one of the biggest barriers to increasing donation rates,” the Minister said, adding, “No major religion prohibits organ donation, and all faiths uphold the values of compassion, service and saving lives, making organ donation a noble humanitarian act.”

Patel also highlighted the growing success of the national digital organ donation pledge portal launched in 2023. She said India has now crossed five lakh Aadhaar-verified organ donation pledges. She attributed the achievement to sustained public awareness campaigns undertaken by the government, and repeated appeals by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, encouraging citizens to pledge their organs and support the timely transportation of donated organs to recipients.

While noting India’s impressive global standing, Patel stressed that bridging the gap between organ demand and organ availability remains a national priority requiring greater public participation, institutional capacity and efficient coordination.

Health Secretary Puniya Salila Srivastava outlined the rapid expansion of the country’s organ transplantation infrastructure. She said the network, comprising NOTTO, ROTTO (Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation) and SOTTO (State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation), now covers 31 states and Union Territories, significantly improving coordination between hospitals for organ procurement, allocation and transplantation.

She also announced that the Centre has decentralised the authority for hearing appeals related to organ transplantation, a move expected to make the approval process faster, more efficient and time-bound.

Highlighting improvements in public healthcare capacity, Srivastava said that besides AIIMS New Delhi, 10 newly established AIIMS are now performing kidney transplants. Among them, AIIMS Jodhpur, AIIMS Bhubaneswar, AIIMS Patna and AIIMS Rishikesh have also started liver transplantation services, while AIIMS Bhopal has successfully commenced heart transplantation.

The expansion of transplant services across the AIIMS institutions is expected to improve access to advanced organ transplantation for patients from different parts of the country, reducing dependence on a few metropolitan centres.

Director General of Health Services Dr Loveneesh G Krishna described Indian Organ Donation Day as an occasion to honour deceased organ donors and their families, whose generosity has saved thousands of lives. He noted that the day commemorates India's first successful deceased organ transplant, performed on August 3, 1994.

A major highlight of this year’s observance was the release of two important national policy documents aimed at strengthening the transplantation programme — the National Brain Stem Death Certification Guidelines and the National Guidelines on Swap Transplantation.

These guidelines provide a standardised and practical framework for transplant professionals and are intended to assist states and Union Territories in implementing ethical, transparent and efficient organ donation and transplantation systems.

Officials said the new guidelines are expected to strengthen the national transplantation ecosystem by improving uniformity in clinical practices, streamlining certification procedures and expanding access to safe, equitable and high-quality transplantation services across the country.

Health authorities, however, underlined that sustained public awareness, greater deceased organ donation and stronger hospital networks will be essential to narrow the persistent gap between the number of patients awaiting transplants and the organs available to save their lives.

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