Budget 2026: What India's ageing population needs from the finance minister

From home care bills to insurance gaps, why Budget 2026 matters for families supporting ageing parents

Around 19,500 Indians turn 60 every day, and by 2050, nearly 21 per cent of the population will be above 60, translating to about 347 million seniors, a report released by the PwC-Association of Senior Living India (ASLI) has said. This demographic shift is already reshaping how families spend, save, and plan for care.

 

Long-term care, not hospital bills, is the real strain

“The single biggest cost pressure seniors face today is long-term, non-medical care,” said Rajiv Gupta, president of PB Fintech Group. He explained that expenses such as assisted living, full-time attendants, dementia support, and home nursing are recurring and long-lasting, yet remain largely uninsured.

 

Gupta illustrated this with an urban middle-class example: A couple in their early 70s living in a Tier-1 city, where one spouse has early dementia or mobility issues. Monthly costs can include a live-in attendant costing Rs 30,000–40,000, part-time nursing of Rs 10,000–15,000, therapy expenses of Rs 5,000–8,000, and medicines and consumables of Rs 6,000–10,000.

 

“That adds up to Rs 50,000–70,000 a month, or Rs 6-8 lakh a year,” he said.

 

A similar picture emerges from wealth managers.

 

Manish Srivastava, executive director at Anand Rathi Wealth Limited, said even modest home-care needs cost Rs 25,000-30,000 per month, while assisted living in Tier-1 cities costs Rs 40,000–60,000 monthly. “Families fund this by drawing down retirement savings, liquidating mutual funds meant for future goals, or relying on monthly transfers from children,” he said.

 

Fragmented care raises costs and stress

From a provider’s lens, Ishaan Khanna, chief executive officer of Antara Assisted Care Services, said families today assemble care in an ad-hoc manner, “an attendant here, a nurse there”, because there is no integrated, regulated ecosystem. This fragmentation increases costs, reduces predictability, and creates emotional stress for caregivers, he said.

 

Insurance still ignores daily ageing needs

According to Rahul Mathur, chief executive officer of Roinet Insurance Private Limited, India lacks a dedicated long-term care insurance framework. “Most health insurance products focus on hospitalisation, while daily care costs of Rs 35,000-40,000 a month are paid entirely out of pocket,” he said.

 

Mathur gave a detailed illustration.

 

A 72-year-old parent in a metro city needing home-based support costs about Rs 4.4 lakh a year, which is usually not reimbursed. If Budget 2026 enables long-term care riders covering even 50 per cent of home-care costs, supported by higher deductions under Section 80D, the family’s annual burden could fall by nearly Rs 2 lakh, he said.

 

Why reverse mortgages remain unused

While reverse mortgages exist, their usage is negligible. Gupta pointed to low loan-to-value ratios and complex processes as key barriers. B Shravanth Shanker, managing partner at B Shanker Advocates, added that although reverse mortgage payouts are tax-free under the Income-tax Act, high transaction costs and procedural hurdles discourage seniors.

 

Manish Srivastava noted that a Rs 1 crore house often yields monthly payouts of just Rs 10,000-15,000, which does not even cover basic caregiving. Budget 2026 could make these tools usable by raising loan-to-value limits, simplifying norms, and allowing flexible payouts, experts said.

 

Tax and regulatory gaps

From a legal and tax perspective, Kunal Savani, partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, said many seniors earn passive income through capital gains but face uncertainty over rebates under Section 87A. “Clear guidance on the allowability of such rebates for senior citizens would provide much-needed relief,” he said.

 

Rohit Jain, managing partner at Singhania & Co, argued that reclassifying senior living from the 18 per cent GST bracket to tax-exempt healthcare would directly improve affordability, while expanding Section 80D to include geriatric outpatient care.

 

One reform that could change the system

Several experts converged on one idea: Formal recognition of senior care. Rajit Mehta, managing director and chief executive officer of Antara Senior Care, said granting infrastructure status, expanding insurance coverage to long-term care, exempting senior care services from GST, and creating a dedicated nodal agency would significantly improve access and affordability.

 

Echoing this, Raheel Patel, partner at Gandhi Law Associates, said integrating long-term and home-based care into India’s health financing framework would address where families actually face financial distress.

 

The consensus is clear, as Gupta put it, India does not need massive spending in Budget 2026. “It needs recognition, regulation, and shared risk.”

 

If long-term care is insured, tax-supported, and standardised, ageing can become financially manageable for families rather than a silent crisis.