Kanpur, July 30, 2025: The ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth, the CSR arm of ICICI Bank, has announced a strategic partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur to develop a cutting-edge Digital Health Stack (ICICI-DHS). With a funding commitment of ₹34 crore, the initiative aims to enhance India’s public healthcare infrastructure through a modular, open, and scalable digital platform.
The ICICI-DHS platform is designed to address key challenges in healthcare access and delivery by integrating digital tools and systems. Focus areas include enhancing telemedicine access in remote regions, evaluating portable healthcare devices, enabling chronic disease trend detection through AI, and developing digital medical record protocols aligned with regulatory requirements.
To drive this effort, IIT Kanpur has established a dedicated Innovation Lab on campus. The lab was inaugurated in the presence of Mr. Pradeep Kumar Sinha, Chairman, ICICI Bank; Mr. Rakesh Jha, Executive Director, ICICI Bank; and Prof. Manindra Agarwal, Director, IIT Kanpur.
A key early application of the ICICI-DHS was seen during the Maha Kumbh Mela with the deployment of the Real Time Bed Availability and Referral Portal (RT-BARP), which facilitated bed bookings, ambulance coordination, and timely referrals for lakhs of pilgrims.
Commenting on the initiative, Mr. Pradeep Kumar Sinha said, “We believe that technology-led innovation holds the key to inclusive healthcare in India. We are pleased to collaborate with IIT Kanpur on the ICICI Digital Health Stack, which will help build a future-ready and digitally aligned healthcare ecosystem for public welfare.”
Prof. Manindra Agarwal added, “Through this project of ICICI Digital Health Stack that we initiated last year, we aim to develop deployable technology for complete evidence-based, implementable, person-focused and digitally enabled healthcare delivery for all in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is my pleasure to mention that as part of this initiative our team developed Real Time Bed Availability and Referral Portal (RT-BARP) which was successfully deployed during the Maha Kumbh 2025, ensuring better preparedness and improved medical accessibility during the event. We are grateful to ICICI Foundation for the generous support.”
The ICICI Foundation has been active in areas such as skill development, environment protection, healthcare, and financial inclusion, impacting over 18.9 million lives as of March 2025. The partnership with IIT Kanpur marks another step in its commitment to using technology for inclusive growth and improved public service delivery.
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