There has been a significant increase in the officially recorded number of organ donations (both living & deceased) across India in the last ten years. However, the numbers indicate a very skewed picture with the southern & western states leading by a wide margin.
Concerned about gaps in organ transplant practices, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently urged states to take stronger measures to improve transparency and compliance. It asked state health departments to ensure that all licensed transplant hospitals are linked to the national registry managed by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) and regularly update information on both living and deceased donors. The Ministry also called for better identification and timely declaration of brain-dead patients, which is essential for increasing deceased organ donations. In its advisory, it noted that several hospitals were not submitting complete data, raising concerns about potential misuse and unethical practices in organ allocation. States have been told to monitor hospitals more closely and submit monthly compliance reports. The Ministry warned that failure to follow these instructions could lead to action under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994 (THOTA).
The directive is part of a broader push to strengthen oversight and restore trust in the system. Further, organ donation rates in India are among the lowest globally, due to a combination of social stigma, lack of awareness, religious beliefs, and limited infrastructure. In this context, we look at how organ donation figures in India and across different states have changed over the past 12 years. The data for the story has been compiled from RTI responses and NOTTO’s reports. It should be noted that NOTTO was established in 2013, so the data is available only since then. The data for 2024 is tentative.
Explore detailed datasets on organ donations in India on Dataful. The data is categorised by state, type of organ donated, and whether the transplant was from a living or deceased donor.
Number of living and deceased donors in India has tripled in last decade
In the last 12 years, there has been a notable growth in both deceased and living organ donors in India. The number of deceased donors has more than tripled from 340 in 2013 to 1,128 in 2024, marking a 231.8% increase. While there were some fluctuations, especially a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the numbers recovered quickly in subsequent years. Notably, 2023 marked a significant milestone for India, with the country reaching over 1,000 deceased donors for the first time. Living donors, including domino and split liver transplantation donors, also showed a significant upward trend, rising from 4,153 in 2013 to 15,469 in 2024, registering an increase of nearly 273%.
5 states account for 4 in 5 deceased donors in India while Delhi & Tamil Nadu consistently reported high numbers of living donors
Tamil Nadu continues to lead in the number of deceased organ donors, with a strong rebound from a low of 60 in 2021 to 268 in 2024, recording its highest in the last decade. Telangana has also maintained a high number of deceased donors, peaking in 2023 before a slight dip in 2024. Karnataka and Gujarat have shown steady improvements, with both states more than quadrupling their donor numbers since 2013. Maharashtra has also tripled the figures during this period. These five states alone contribute to around 80% of the deceased donors each year.
States like Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh have also reported a gradual increase in the number of deceased organ donors, though their overall donor numbers remain modest. Delhi, once active, has seen a drop from a peak of 67 in 2022 to just 40 in 2024. Kerala, which had high numbers earlier in the decade, has seen a steady decline. Large states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal continue to report very low deceased donor numbers.
With respect to living donors, Delhi remains the top contributor with numbers rising sharply from 1,197 in 2020 to 4,348 in 2024, marking its highest in the last decade. Tamil Nadu has also reported a steady increase in the numbers, with living donor figures nearly tripling since 2015. Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Kerala have recorded consistent growth, while Kerala has more than doubled its numbers since 2020. Telangana and Gujarat have maintained moderate yet stable contributions over the years. Ten states, which accounted for more than 94% of living donors back in 2014, accounted for only 84% in 2024, highlighting the increasing share of donors from other states.
However, state-level data reveals a wide disparity across regions. Southern states are at the forefront, consistently reporting higher numbers of organ donors, both living and deceased. In contrast, many large and northern states continue to lag behind. Union Territories and northeastern states have either reported nil or very low numbers, highlighting uneven progress in organ donation efforts across the country.
Kidney and liver transplants are most common across the country
Kidney and liver transplants are the most common types of living-donor transplants in the country because these organs can be donated in a way that allows the donor to live a normal life with a remaining healthy organ. The organ-wise transplantation data also substantiates this. At an all-India level, kidney transplants have consistently been the most performed, increasing from 8,052 in 2013 to 26,738 in 2024, reflecting a more than 3-fold increase. Liver transplants showed substantial growth, rising from 1,796 in 2013 to 9,720 in 2024, a more than 5-fold increase, indicating improved liver transplant success rates.
Heart transplants grew from 60 in 2013 to 492 in 2024, while Lung transplants also followed a similar upward trend, increasing from 46 in 2013 to 442 in 2024. Both pancreas and small bowel transplants have seen increases in recent years, though the numbers remain small.
Pancreas transplants showed fluctuation, increasing from 4 in 2013 to 54 in 2018, then declining in subsequent years before rising again to 54 in 2023. The numbers, although small compared to other organs, reflect an overall upward trend in this field, even though the total remained low in 2024.
Small bowel transplants, which were zero in 2013, saw gradual growth starting in 2014 with 2 transplants, and continued increasing each year, revealing a gradual progress in the rare procedure. In 2023, the number reached 32, before dropping slightly to 16 in 2024.
Kidney and liver transplants are widespread, while other organ transplants are confined to a few states
Kidney and liver transplants dominate the organ donation in India, both in terms of volume and geographical spread. Kidney transplants are the most prevalent, with over 1 lakh procedures recorded, taking place in 27 states. Liver transplants, though fewer in number at around 30,000, are still relatively widespread and performed in 20 states.
In contrast, other organ transplants, such as the heart and lungs, remain limited in scope. Heart transplants total just over 2,000 and are performed in only 14 states, while lung transplants, at 1,333, are limited to 11 states. This indicates that while progress has been made, these procedures are still restricted to states with highly specialised & advanced healthcare services. The situation is even more stark for pancreas and small bowel transplants. With only 193 and 44 recorded procedures, respectively, these surgeries are rare and conducted in merely a handful of states, with pancreas transplants in 10, and small bowel transplants in just 4 states.
The state-level data reveals that southern and western states such as Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, and Gujarat are at the forefront of organ transplantation, not just in terms of the number of procedures but also in the diversity of organ types being transplanted.
In states such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha, data reveal a significantly lower transplant figure compared to their more developed counterparts. These states typically lag in both the volume and variety of organ transplants, with kidney transplants being the most common and often the only type performed.
India has made significant strides in organ donation over the past decade. However, the data also underscores stark regional disparities and limited access to complex transplants in many states. While southern and western states have developed robust systems for a range of organ transplants, large parts of the country continue to face infrastructural and systemic challenges.
Specialised medical infrastructure & resources, awareness are key to ensure that this progress is more widespread across states. Further, the government’s move to ensure hospitals follow rules, update data regularly, and identify brain-dead patients promptly to boost deceased donations is a step in the right direction. India is now a major destination for foreigners seeking organ transplants, which makes it even more important to keep the system transparent and fair.
