India Achieves Record 20,000 Organ Transplants in 2025, But Deceased Donor Gap Remains
New Delhi: India performed a record 20,138 organ transplants in 2025, crossing the 20,000-mark for the first time and registering a 6.5% increase over the previous year, according to the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation’s (NOTTO) annual report. The figure marks a fourfold rise from 4,990 transplants in 2013.
The report, released on the 16th Indian Organ Donation Day, highlights significant regional variations. Delhi-NCR recorded the highest number of transplants with 4,564 procedures, followed by Tamil Nadu (2,796), Maharashtra (2,136), Telangana (1,523) and Kerala (1,489). Tamil Nadu also led the country in deceased organ donors with 266, followed by Maharashtra (205), Telangana (198), Karnataka (154) and Kerala (152).
On the global stage, India has emerged as the world’s third-largest country in total organ transplants, after the United States and China. The country continues to hold the top position globally in living donor organ transplants, according to the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation report released in 2026.
The health ministry also announced that more than five lakh Aadhaar-verified organ donation pledges have been recorded since the national digital pledge portal was launched in 2023. This milestone coincided with the 16th Indian Organ Donation Day, underscoring growing public engagement.
Despite these gains, deceased organ donation remains India’s biggest challenge. Deceased donor transplants rose from 837 in 2013 to 3,526 in 2025, but continue to fall far short of demand. Addressing this gap is a national priority, said Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel, adding that a substantial gap still exists between the demand for organs and their availability.
To strengthen the programme, the government has launched the ‘Jug Jug Jiyo Abhiyaan’, a year-long awareness campaign. It also rolled out e-Pratyaropan, a digital platform for donor registration, waitlist management and organ allocation, along with a NOTTO mobile app. New guidelines for Brain Stem Death Certification and Swap Transplantation have been introduced to improve transparency and efficiency.
Expansion of transplant services is also underway. Ten new AIIMS institutions are now performing kidney transplants, while AIIMS Bhopal has initiated heart transplantation. AIIMS Jodhpur, Bhubaneswar, Patna and Rishikesh have launched liver transplant programmes.
The report highlights reforms under the ‘One Nation, One Policy’ initiative, which removed domicile requirements, the upper age limit and registration fees for patients seeking deceased donor organs. These changes are expected to make organ allocation more equitable across states.
With nearly 1.73 lakh road traffic fatalities every year, the report notes that India has significant potential to increase deceased organ donation. Better awareness, streamlined processes and infrastructure expansion could help convert this potential into life-saving transplants, but experts say sustained efforts are needed.
