MAM
India braces for a grey wave as elderly numbers set to hit 230m by 2036
MUMBAI India’s population is ageing fast. By 2036, roughly 230 million Indians—one in seven—will be 60 or older, more than double the 100 million recorded in 2011. It’s a demographic earthquake that will reshape everything from healthcare to housing, pensions to public transport.
The south is greying fastest. Kerala, already home to 13 per cent elderly in 2011, will see that figure leap to 23 per cent by 2036, matching developed nations. Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh aren’t far behind.
Meanwhile, northern states like Uttar Pradesh, though younger now, are catching up quickly—elderly numbers there will nearly double from 7 per cent to 12 per cent.
Women dominate the demographic. They make up 58 per cent of India’s elderly, with a sex ratio of 1,065 females per 1,000 males. More than half are widows. The overall dependency ratio—62 dependents per 100 working-age people—signals mounting pressure on families and the state.
The challenges are stacked high. Mental health stigma around dementia and Alzheimer’s persists. Geriatric infrastructure is patchy, especially in rural areas. Social security remains inadequate even as living costs climb. Traditional family support systems are fraying under the weight of urbanisation and nuclear households. And India’s infrastructure—from public transport to pavements—remains stubbornly unfriendly to the elderly.
New Delhi is scrambling to respond. The ministry of social justice and empowerment has rolled out a raft of schemes. The Atal Pension Yojana, launched in 2015, has swelled from 15.4 million subscribers in 2019 to 82.7 million by October 2025, managing assets worth over Rs 49,000 crore. It promises monthly pensions of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 after subscribers turn 60.
The Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens runs 696 old-age homes across 29 states and union territories, with 84 more approved this year. The Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana distributes walking sticks, hearing aids, wheelchairs and dentures to low-income seniors. A toll-free helpline—14567—offers support. The Sacred portal helps those over 60 find jobs. The SAGE portal encourages start-ups to develop elderly care solutions, offering equity support of up to Rs 1 crore per project.
Legal muscle backs the effort. The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, amended in 2019, compels children—including step-children and in-laws—to provide for parents. It scrapped the Rs 10,000 monthly maintenance cap and mandated special police units for seniors in every district. All hospitals, private included, must now provide dedicated queues, beds and geriatric care.
Technology is pitching in too. Telemedicine platforms like e-Sanjeevani offer free home consultations. Wearable devices track vital signs. Online pharmacies deliver medicines to doorsteps. Smart home sensors let families monitor elderly relatives remotely.
The silver economy—goods and services for those over 50—is booming. Valued at Rs 73,000 crore in 2024, it’s set for multi-fold growth. Globally, senior citizens and professionals aged 45 to 64 are the wealthiest cohort. India’s senior care market presents vast opportunities for health and wellness firms, both at home and abroad.
Yet success hinges on more than schemes and start-ups. India needs specialised regulations for senior care, policy reforms anchored in evaluation frameworks, and better coordination across ministries. Panchayati raj institutions, urban local bodies, NGOs and private providers must work in concert. Public-private collaboration across healthcare is essential.
The clock is ticking. By 2050, India’s elderly population will swell to 319 million, growing at three per cent annually. The country that once prided itself on youthful demographics now faces a greying future. Whether it becomes a burden or a boon depends on how swiftly India adapts. The grey wave is coming. Ready or not.
AD Agencies
Abhay Duggal joins JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales
The streaming giant brings in a seasoned revenue hand as the battle for Hindi television advertising heats up
MUMBAI: Abhay Duggal has a new desk, and JioStar has a new weapon. The media and entertainment veteran has joined JioStar as director of entertainment ad sales for Hindi general entertainment channels, adding 17 years of hard-won revenue experience to one of India’s most powerful broadcasting operations.
Duggal is no stranger to big portfolios or bruising markets. Before joining JioStar, he spent a brief stint at Republic World as deputy general manager and north regional head for ad sales. Before that, he put in three years at Enterr10 Television, where he ran the north region for Dangal TV and Dangal 2, two of India’s leading free-to-air Hindi channels. The north alone accounted for more than 50 per cent of total channel revenue on his watch, a number that tends to get attention in any sales meeting.
His longest stint was at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where he spent over six years rising to associate director of sales. There he commanded the Hindi movies cluster across seven channels, owned more than half of north India’s revenue across flagship properties including Zee TV and &TV, and closed marquee sponsorships across the Indian Premier League, Zee Rishtey Awards and Dance India Dance. He also handled monetisation for the English movies and entertainment cluster and the global news channel WION, a portfolio that would stretch most sales teams twice his size.
Earlier in his career Duggal closed what was then a Rs 3 crore single deal at Reliance Broadcast Network, one of the largest in Indian radio at the time, before that he helped launch and monetise JAINHITS, India’s first HITS-based cable and satellite platform.
His edge, by his own account, lies in marrying data and instinct: translating audience trends, inventory signals and client demands into long-term partnerships built on cost-per-rating-point discipline rather than short-term deal chasing. In a media landscape being reshaped by streaming, fragmented attention and AI-driven advertising, that kind of rigour is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable.
JioStar, which blends the scale of Reliance’s Jio platform with the content firepower of Star, is doubling down on its advertising business at precisely the moment the Hindi GEC market is getting more competitive. Bringing in someone who has spent nearly two decades doing exactly this, across some of India’s most watched channels, is a pointed statement of intent. Duggal has spent his career turning audiences into revenue. JioStar is clearly betting he can do it again, and bigger.
