The All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in New Delhi celebrated its 10th Foundation Day on 17 October 2026 at the close of the three day international conference KAUMARACON 2026. The institute signed two collaboration pacts with Rashtriya Ayurved Vidyapeeth and Arogya Bharati and reported care for more than 37.74 lakh patients in a decade. The milestone underlines AIIA Delhi’s rise as the apex Ayurveda hospital, college and research centre under the Ministry of AYUSH.
What Is the All India Institute of Ayurveda?
The All India Institute of Ayurveda, shortened to AIIA, is the apex autonomous Ayurveda institute of the Government of India for hospital care, teaching and research. The AIIA was formally established on 10 October 2015 as an autonomous body under the Ministry of AYUSH and is located at Gautampuri, Sarita Vihar in New Delhi. The AIIA functions on the lines of AIIMS, which means it combines tertiary patient care with higher education and scientific validation of traditional medicine.
The idea of such an institute goes back to an announcement in 2000 for a state of the art National Ayurveda Hospital. The foundation stone was laid in 2007, outpatient services started in 2009, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the completed institute to the nation on 17 October 2017, which was observed as the second Ayurveda Day. In the first phase, the AIIA Delhi campus was built on 10.015 acres at a cost of ₹157 crore with an academic block and a hospital block.
The Director of AIIA New Delhi is Prof. (Vaidya) P. K. Prajapati (as of October 2026). The institute is affiliated to the University of Delhi for its postgraduate and doctoral programmes. It became the first institute under the Ministry of AYUSH to receive NABH accreditation for hospital care, a national quality mark for hospitals.
AIIA New Delhi Campus: Hospital, Courses and Facilities
The AIIA Hospital in New Delhi is a 200 bed referral hospital that provides Ayurveda led tertiary care with modern diagnostic support. The hospital can attend to about 3,000 patients daily in its outpatient department (OPD), which is the section where patients consult doctors without admission. Its inpatient department (IPD), where patients are admitted for treatment, has 200 beds with modular operation theatres, an intensive care unit, a neonatal intensive care unit, a labour room and an emergency unit.
A decade report released before the Foundation Day counted 37,74,524 patients treated between October 2016 and September 2026. About 30,37,077 patients received care at the main Sarita Vihar campus. Around 7.37 lakh patients received care through the satellite centre in Goa and outreach units at Safdarjung Hospital, the UPSC building, the National Cancer Institute at Jhajjar, the IAS training centre in Mussoorie and Ekta Nagar at Kevadia. Annual footfall rose from about 1.23 lakh in 2020 to more than 5.40 lakh by September 2026, a rise the institute links to higher public interest in Ayurveda after the COVID 19 pandemic.
Teaching at AIIA Delhi started with the first postgraduate batch in 2016-17, and PhD courses started in 2017-18. The institute now offers MD and MS programmes in 12 Ayurveda specialties, PhD programmes in Ayurveda and allied subjects, and skill and certificate courses in areas such as Panchakarma therapy, diet and nutrition, hospital administration and Yoga science. Patient services cover 45 specialty clinics for diabetes, joint disorders, skin diseases, respiratory and neurological conditions, infertility and lifestyle disorders, along with classical procedures such as Panchakarma (fivefold cleansing therapy), Ksharasutra (medicated thread treatment), Agnikarma (heat therapy) and Jalaukavacharana (leech therapy).
| Facility at AIIA New Delhi | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | Sarita Vihar, New Delhi, nearest metro access on Violet Line |
| Hospital strength | 200 bed IPD, OPD capacity of about 3,000 patients per day |
| Quality mark | NABH accredited hospital |
| Academic link | Affiliated to University of Delhi |
| Courses | MD/MS in 12 specialties, PhD, certificate and skill courses |
| Support units | Pathology, biochemistry, microbiology, radiology, central laboratory, pharmacy with in house drug unit |
| Outreach network | Goa satellite centre plus units at Safdarjung, Jhajjar, Mussoorie, UPSC building and Kevadia |
Ministry of AYUSH: Parent Ministry and Governance
The Ministry of AYUSH is the central ministry that governs AIIA New Delhi. The Ministry of AYUSH was formed on 9 November 2014 to promote education, research and public health services through traditional systems of medicine. It succeeded the Department of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy created in 1995, which was renamed as the Department of AYUSH in 2003.
AYUSH is a short form for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy. The ministry also looks after Sowa Rigpa, the traditional medical system of the Himalayan region. The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH is Prataprao Jadhav (as of October 2026). Day to day work covers central institutes such as AIIA and Rashtriya Ayurved Vidyapeeth, research councils, drug quality standards, the pharmacopoeia for Indian medicine, and schemes such as the National AYUSH Mission.
For citizens, the ministry runs common digital gateways such as the AYUSH portal for information, scheme applications and service links. AIIA Delhi also runs its own online systems for OPD token booking and appointments.
What Happened on the 10th Foundation Day?
The AIIA New Delhi marked its 10th Foundation Day on 17 October 2026. The celebration coincided with the final day of KAUMARACON 2026, a three day international conference organised by the Department of Kaumarbhritya of AIIA. Kaumarbhritya is the branch of Ayurveda that deals with child health, pregnancy care and newborn care. Experts from countries including the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Germany, Nepal, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Italy and the United States joined discussions on Ayurveda and Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine in child health.
The Foundation Day ceremony was attended by Member of Parliament Ramvir Singh Bidhuri as chief guest, Padma Bhushan Vaidya Devendra Triguna and former AIIA Director Prof. Abhimanyu Kumar as guests of honour, and Arogya Bharati National Organising Secretary Dr. Ashok Kumar Varshney as special guest. AIIA Director Prof. Prajapati led the proceedings. The institute released more than 15 academic publications, a new DBIM compliant website built as per the Digital Brand Identity Manual, the e course Foundations of Entrepreneurship and Startup Development for AYUSH Professionals (FESDAP), a textbook of research methodology and medical statistics, and an eBook titled Rooted and Rising: Journey of All India Institute of Ayurveda.
MoU with Rashtriya Ayurved Vidyapeeth
The first pact was signed between AIIA and Rashtriya Ayurved Vidyapeeth (RAV). RAV is an autonomous body under the Ministry of AYUSH, constituted in 1988 to revive classical Ayurveda learning through the Gurukula method where students train directly under experienced teachers. RAV runs the CRAV and MRAV courses, the Certificate and Membership of Rashtriya Ayurved Vidyapeeth, and acts as the nodal agency for continuing medical education and for accreditation of Ayurveda courses outside the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine framework.
Under the MoU, the Department of Kaumarbhritya at AIIA New Delhi and AIIA Goa will function as a Centre of Excellence for RAV. The two bodies will jointly develop standard operating procedures, training modules, joint research papers and policy research. A central task is a standard procedure for Swarnaprashan Samskar, a classical practice in which processed gold is given with honey and ghee to children to support immunity and growth. The joint work will fix standards for formulation, preparation, dose as per age and strength, safety checks, documentation and parent counselling, along with laboratory and clinical study of safety and efficacy.
MoU with Arogya Bharati
The second pact was signed between AIIA and Arogya Bharati. Arogya Bharati is a voluntary health organisation announced on 2 November 2002 at Kochi on Dhanvantari Jayanti and registered as a public trust on 29 July 2004 at Bhopal. The organisation works for preventive, promotive and positive health through school health programmes, Arogya Mitra volunteer training, Yoga practice groups, medicinal plant drives and health camps. The exchange of the MoU took place between Arogya Bharati National President Dr. Rakesh Pandit and AIIA Director Prof. Prajapati.
The AIIA Arogya Bharati MoU focuses on wider public outreach and knowledge sharing in Ayurveda. It links the clinical and academic strength of AIIA with the grassroots network of Arogya Bharati, which reports activity in about 500 districts. The aim is joint awareness drives, community health work and wider use of validated Ayurveda practices for public health.
What Is Ayurveda and What Is AYUSH?
Ayurveda is one of the oldest documented medical systems in the world, with a history of practice of more than 5,000 years in India. The word Ayurveda joins ayur, which means life, and veda, which means knowledge, so the term means knowledge of life. Ayurveda medicine uses plant, mineral and animal based formulations, diet rules, daily routine, Yoga, and cleansing therapies such as Panchakarma to prevent disease and restore balance among the three bodily humours called Vata, Pitta and Kapha.
AYUSH describes the group of recognised traditional systems promoted by India. The term covers Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy, along with Sowa Rigpa. Ayurveda works on the principle that health depends on balance between body, mind, senses and environment, so treatment combines medicines, food, lifestyle correction and preventive care rather than only symptom control.
Ayurveda Day explains why this knowledge is celebrated each year. Ayurveda Day was first observed in 2016 on Dhanvantari Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Lord Dhanvantari regarded as the physician of the gods. From 2025, the government fixed 23 September as the annual date to allow better planning and global participation. The 10th Ayurveda Day in 2025 was held at AIIA Goa on the theme Ayurveda for People and Planet. The 11th Ayurveda Day in 2026 was held at Nagpur on the theme Ayurveda for a Healthier Tomorrow.
AIIA Goa and the Road Ahead
The satellite centre of AIIA at Goa extends the Delhi model to western India. The Goa centre was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 11 December 2022 during the World Ayurveda Congress and is spread over 50 acres with a 250 bed hospital and 14 academic departments. The Goa campus offers undergraduate teaching affiliated to Goa University and postgraduate seats, and it has already handled more than 4.4 lakh OPD patients and about 4,000 IPD patients. The Goa government has assured additional land for a cancer research centre, central laboratories and a pharmacy unit.
For AIIA New Delhi, the next phase involves stronger research validation, startup support through the incubation centre for Ayurveda innovation and entrepreneurship, and deeper global ties. An international pact between AIIA Goa and Maharishi International University in Iowa in the United States for an Academic Chair in Ayurveda shows this direction. The two domestic MoUs signed on the Foundation Day fit the same path. They seek to turn classroom knowledge, clinical data and community outreach into common standards that doctors, students and the public can use with confidence.
Key Takeaways
- The All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) celebrated its 10th Foundation Day on 17 October 2026 in New Delhi.
- AIIA is an autonomous body under the Ministry of AYUSH, established on 10 October 2015 and located at Sarita Vihar, New Delhi.
- AIIA signed two MoUs on the occasion with Rashtriya Ayurved Vidyapeeth (RAV) and Arogya Bharati for collaboration and knowledge sharing in Ayurveda.
- AIIA reported treatment of 37,74,524 patients between October 2016 and September 2026 through its main campus, Goa centre and outreach units.
- Rashtriya Ayurved Vidyapeeth was constituted in 1988 to revive classical Ayurveda learning through the Gurukula method.
