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Trustworthy hospital networks and insurance incentives can keep quality healthcare affordable: Shashank ND at Ideas of India’ Summit 3.0
Mumbai: Trustworthy hospital networks and insurance incentives can keep quality healthcare affordable in India, said Practo Health Co-Founder Shashank ND at the ‘Ideas of India’ Summit 3.0 in Mumbai today. While putting the health of the nation at the central agenda, he also highlighted the challenges and opportunities in healthcare during the Summit.
“Two things where inflation is high in the UK and the US are healthcare and education. As the country develops, the costs get higher. In India, people go to hospitals which they trust, leading to a monopoly of a few and high costs. To address this, it is essential for a large network of hospitals to establish and showcase trust. Also, most countries have managed to keep healthcare affordable with the help of insurance. The insurance companies can incentivize hospitals that keep their prices low,” said Practo Health co-founder Shashank ND.
A college dropout, Shashank earned success early in life with Practo. Inspiring audiences with his journey during a session on “Online Lifeline: Making Healthcare Accessible,” he shared how lack of accessibility and opaqueness in healthcare led to him coming up with idea of Practo Health.
“It was a time when I asked the doctor for an email instead of a printed prescription for my father’s treatment; he told me his software restricted him from sharing an email. So I made software for him, and he was very happy. And today we have 20k doctors using that,” he said.
He further added, “Everyone wants to live longer and healthier, and that’s what they need. I found healthcare to be very complex and opaque. The patients didn’t know about the prices and treatment, and accessibility to quality healthcare was a big challenge. If someone needed a breast cancer specialist, there were people who could do it, but that access or knowledge on treatments was missing. We focused on connecting these dots. And today we have over two lakh doctors, including their specialties and sub-specialties, on Practo Health, enabling a layman to navigate the complex black box.”
On the future of teleconsultation and online healthcare taking over in-person visits, he stressed a hybrid approach with a focus on treatment outcome, making the patient get better in the long-term.
The ABP Network’s ‘Ideas of India’ Summit 3.0, spotlighting ‘The People’s Agenda,’ brought a confluence of ideas and ideators to a common platform, celebrating the country’s people and its plurality. The two-day summit hosted policymakers, cultural ambassadors, industry experts, celebrities, business leaders, economists, and leading luminaries to delve into the fundamental ideas of liberty, justice, equality, and diversity that define India, its society, culture, and politics. The meaningful deliberations on diverse topics had the brightest minds across sectors providing insights about the nation’s trajectory and its journey to become Viksit Bharat.
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Network18 posts Rs 1,955 crore revenue, narrows FY26 losses
PAT improves to Rs 306.6 crore, margins steady amid cost pressures.
MUMBAI: Not all news is breaking, some of it is quietly improving. Network18 Media & Investments Limited appears to be doing just that, tightening losses and stabilising margins even as costs continue to weigh on the business. For FY26, the company reported revenue from operations of Rs 1,955.1 crore, up from Rs 1,896.2 crore in FY25, signalling modest top-line growth in a challenging media environment. Total income stood at Rs 1,978.2 crore, compared to Rs 1,913 crore a year earlier.
Profit after tax came in at Rs 306.6 crore for the year, a sharp turnaround from Rs 3,225.4 crore in FY25, largely reflecting the absence of large exceptional items that had inflated the previous year’s numbers. On a more comparable basis, the company’s operating performance showed signs of gradual stabilisation.
However, the quarterly picture remained under pressure. For the March quarter, Network18 reported a loss of Rs 53.1 crore, narrower than the Rs 98.1 crore loss in the same period last year, but still indicative of ongoing cost challenges.
Expenses continued to track high. Total expenses for FY26 stood at Rs 2,235.7 crore, up from Rs 2,197.8 crore in FY25. Key cost heads included operational expenses of Rs 765.9 crore, employee benefits of Rs 475.9 crore, and marketing, distribution and promotional spends of Rs 427.1 crore, underlining the continued investment required to sustain reach and engagement.
At an operating level, margins remained under strain. Operating margin stood at 2.33 per cent for FY26, marginally higher than 1.77 per cent in FY25, while net profit margin remained negative at -13.02 per cent, though improved from -14.89 per cent.
On the balance sheet, total assets rose to Rs 8,957.6 crore as of 31 March 2026, from Rs 8,317.5 crore a year earlier. Equity strengthened to Rs 4,958.7 crore, while borrowings increased to Rs 3,112.8 crore, reflecting a higher reliance on debt to support operations.
Cash flows told a mixed story. While financing activities generated Rs 83.9 crore, operating cash flow remained negative at Rs -24 crore, highlighting ongoing pressure on core cash generation. Cash and cash equivalents, however, improved to Rs 33.9 crore from Rs 1.8 crore.
The numbers point to a company in transition growing revenues, trimming losses, but still grappling with structural cost pressures. In a sector where scale often comes at a price, Network18 seems to be inching towards balance, one quarter at a time.
