India records highest organ transplants, but donor gap leaves thousands waiting

India recorded a record 20,138 organ transplants in 2025 despite a limited donor pool. The milestone has exposed a much wider gap, with nearly 89,839 patients still waiting.

In Short

• Nearly 89,839 patients were on the national transplant waiting list
• Kidney patients formed the largest queue, with 60,590 awaiting transplants
• Government estimates show demand far exceeds available kidney, liver and heart organs

India has reached a significant milestone in organ transplantation, recording its highest-ever number of transplants in 2025. But behind the record lies a stark gap between the number of patients needing a lifesaving organ and the number of donors available, a gap that means tens of thousands continue to wait, often for years and sometimes in vain.

The country recorded 20,138 organ transplants in 2025, a nearly four-fold increase from the fewer than 5,000 transplants performed a little over a decade ago. The growth reflects improvements in transplant infrastructure, clinical expertise, awareness and coordination between hospitals.

Yet the numbers remain far below the scale of the need.

As of March 3, 2026, at least 89,839 patients were formally registered on India's national transplant waiting list, according to the latest available data by the National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO).

This includes around 60,590 patients waiting for kidneys, 18,724 for livers, 1,650 for hearts, 970 for lungs and 306 for pancreas transplants. And even this figure does not capture the full burden.

The registered waiting list represents patients formally recorded on the national transplant registry, not everyone in the country who medically needs an organ.

Government estimates put the annual need at around 2.5 lakh kidney transplants, 80,000 liver transplants and 50,000 heart transplants, with the estimated demand running into several hundred thousand across organs.

Overall, India's organ donation rate remains below 1% of its population, a figure that continues to underline the scale of the challenge. The country may be performing more transplants than ever before, but the increase has not yet translated into anything close to universal access for those who need one.

That is particularly evident in the kidney transplant queue, which accounts for the overwhelming majority of registered patients. The number of people waiting is also shaped by the availability of living donors, deceased-donor programmes and whether patients are medically suitable for transplantation.

RECORD NUMBERS, VAST GAP

For kidney patients in particular, the mismatch is enormous.

Thousands of people with end-stage kidney disease remain dependent on dialysis while waiting for a suitable donor.

For liver and heart patients, the wait can be even more precarious because their conditions can deteriorate rapidly.

“The rise from under 5,000 transplants a decade ago to over 20,000 last year shows what better infrastructure, awareness, and coordination between hospitals can achieve,” said Dr Saurabh Singhal, director, centre for liver-GI diseases and transplantation (CLDT), Aakash Healthcare.

But he cautioned that the country is “still meeting only a fraction of the actual need."

“For every patient who receives a transplant, several more remain on the waiting list, and many will not survive the wait,” he said.

The transplant boom has not happened in isolation. Doctors point to stronger systems for identifying potential donors, improvements in transplant centres and better regulatory mechanisms as important reasons for the rise.

According to Dr Rohit Gupta, director, nephrology & Kidney Transplant, Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, the growth “has not happened by accident”.

He pointed to stronger regulatory frameworks, including national guidelines governing brain-stem death certification and swap transplantation. Standardising such processes across states, he said, was long overdue and is helping more hospitals establish credible transplant programmes.

Swap transplantation, for instance, can help when a willing living donor is medically incompatible with the intended recipient. Through an exchange involving another donor-recipient pair, both patients can potentially receive compatible organs.

But better systems can only go so far when the fundamental shortage is donors.

And for those dependent on a deceased donor, the uncertainty can be especially difficult. A patient may be registered and medically eligible, yet there is no guarantee that a compatible organ will become available before their health deteriorates.

MYTHS STILL COST LIVES

Doctors say increasing donations will require more than hospital-level interventions. Public understanding remains a major missing piece.

Religious and cultural apprehensions continue to discourage some families from consenting to organ donation after death, despite doctors pointing out that no major religion in India prohibits the practice.

Dr Bipin Vibhute, program director, liver transplant & HPB surgery, Jupiter Hospital, Pune, said hesitation often stems from misinformation.

“In our experience counselling families, the hesitation comes from a lack of correct information,” he said, adding that “every major faith practised in India supports organ donation as an act of compassion."

Once families understand this, he said, “the conversation changes completely."

The need, he stressed, is for these conversations to move beyond hospitals and into communities.

Misinformation also surrounds the impact of donation and transplantation on the body, reproductive health and long-term wellbeing. Such myths can discourage both potential donors and patients who may otherwise consider transplantation.

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