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Summary
The drug regulator has ordered all 4,153 licensed blood banks to register on a national portal by Wednesday, as the government tightens oversight following HIV contamination incidents. The push aims to replicate systems already in place in US, UK, and EU.
New Delhi: The apex drug regulator has directed all licensed blood centres to enrol in a national digital portal, as part of a crackdown after cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections in children due to contaminated transfusions across multiple states, according to two government officials and a document reviewed by Mint.
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation issued a directive ordering all 4,153 licensed blood banks to complete registration on the Online National Drug Licensing System portal by 13 May, a single-window platform that centralizes licensing, tracks donor histories, and provides hospitals and patients visibility into verified blood supplies.
“In order to strengthen regulatory oversight, enhance transparency in blood services, and ensure easy public access to blood and its components across the country, it has been decided to generate a database of all Blood Centres on the Online National Drug Licensing System (ONDLS) portal www.Statedrugs.gov.in,” the CDSCO directive to all State Licensing Authorities (SLAs) said.
CDSCO has categorized this mission as a ‘priority’.
Key Takeaways
- India orders all 4,153 blood banks onto one national digital platform.
- HIV infections in children after transfusions triggered this urgent regulatory crackdown.
- The 13 May deadline applies even to centres with pending licences.
- US, UK, and EU already run the kind of registry India wants.
“...all State Licensing Authorities (SLAs) are requested to direct all Blood Centres within their respective jurisdictions to complete this registration latest by 13.05.2026. Action taken may be informed to this directorate for submitting to the MoHFW (ministry of health and family welfare),” the letter said.
The e-RaktKosh digital backbone for blood services and National Informatics Centre (NIC) teams are involved in the information flow to manage the technical rollout.
The move, authorized by drugs controller general Dr. Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, aims to bring commercialized donor networks within government control.
Under the new mandate, every blood centre must register on the ONDLS platform and submit detailed licensing information. This requirement applies to all centres regardless of whether their licenses are active, under renewal, or currently being processed. Only facilities already registered on the system are exempted.
Assuring integrity
“During the registration process, Blood centres shall create a login ID, password on the portal and submit the details of their license, irrespective of their license being renewed or under process,” the letter said.
“By mandating registration, the government seeks to ensure that every facility, including those with licenses under renewal, is strictly monitored, thereby improving public access to verified blood and its components,” one of the officials mentioned above said.
India needs about 14.6 million units of blood annually, making the transfusion infrastructure a public health imperative, yet the country has lagged behind peers such as the US, UK, and the European Union. Officials say the ONDLS database will eliminate the disconnect between state-level blood banks and change manual coordination with a national system. However, experts said that facilities that rely on manual systems may find it difficult to meet the short timeline.
ONDLS acts as a centralized national database that integrates state-level data by requiring State Licensing Authorities to direct their local centres to register.
Queries sent to the health ministry and DCGI office remained unanswered till press time.
This comes in the backdrop of severe screening protocol breaches, including incidents where children tested positive for HIV after transfusions in states like Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, and Assam.
Dr. Ravneet Kaur, lab head-microbiology and serology, Agilus Diagnostics, a pan-India laboratory chain, said, “As blood is a high-risk product, digital records streamline tracking donor history, testing, and storage across state lines—a vital capability during outbreaks.”
Dr. Kaur said that bringing all blood centres onto a single national platform would guarantee that only properly licensed facilities remain operational. She said dismantling the current state-by-state fragmentation would cut bureaucratic delays and bring consistency to the licence renewal process. Because blood is both scarce and time-sensitive, digital oversight is not optional, and it directly affects whether patients receive safe, matched supplies when they need them.
Better systems
Most critically, a unified system would allow regulators to reroute blood stocks rapidly during crises or disease outbreaks, replacing the cumbersome, error-prone manual coordination that currently slows emergency response, she said.
However, she warned that limited IT and manual systems make the 13 May deadline tight, increasing compliance and data accuracy burdens.
Previously, Mint reported that the government has framed stringent new No Objection Certificate regulations to overhaul the country’s blood transfusion infrastructure. A No Objection Certificate is mandatory for the issuance or renewal of a blood centre license.
About the Author
Priyanka Sharma
Priyanka Sharma is a journalist at Mint, where she covers the Union Ministry of Health and the pharmaceutical industry. Her work focuses on explaining government policies and how they impact healthcare and the medicine market in India. With 12 years of experience in journalism, she has built a reputation for providing clear and honest news on important health topics that affect the entire country.<br><br>Her educational background includes a journalism degree from the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) and specialized training in public health from the Public Health Foundation of India. Before her current role at Mint, Priyanka worked with India Today, The Pioneer, and ANI. She also served as a lead consultant for the National Health Authority, which gave her firsthand knowledge of how the government manages large-scale health programmes.<br><br>Priyanka is based in New Delhi and is an avid traveller who loves visiting the mountains. She has a great interest in regional flavours, particularly South Indian food.
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