With its flagship hospital and growing network, Amaha is redefining access to quality mental health support across the country
As the world observes World Mental Health Day on 10 October, Amaha, one of India’s largest and most trusted mental health organisations, is highlighting the urgent need to strengthen India’s mental health infrastructure through structured, coordinated, inclusive, and high-quality care.
Earlier this year, Amaha opened its flagship 27-bed Mental Health Hospital in Thanisandra, Bangalore, a purpose-built facility offering intensive, round-the-clock, evidence-based care. The hospital is a key step in Amaha’s broader vision to build a seamless continuum of care spanning awareness, prevention, outpatient therapy and psychiatry, and now specialised inpatient services ensuring individuals receive consistent support at every stage of their mental health journey.
Founded in 2016 by psychiatrist and healthcare entrepreneur Dr. Amit Malik, and joined by social entrepreneur, Neha Kirpal as cofounder in 2019, Amaha has grown into a national leader in mental healthcare delivery. The organisation operates nine outpatient centres across Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore, supported by a robust digital ecosystem. To date, Amaha has conducted over 200,000 therapy and psychiatry sessions, serving individuals in 400+ Indian cities and more than 15 languages. Its self-care app has reached over 5 million people globally, while its moderated peer-support communities bring together 50,000+ members.
India’s mental health burden continues to grow. Recent studies (PIB, 2024; Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 2022) estimate that one in eight Indians will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime, with anxiety and depressive disorders affecting nearly 14% of adults. At the same time, 70–90% of people who need care do not receive it, due to stigma, cost, or lack of access. The psychiatrist-to-population ratio remains under 1 per 100,000, far below WHO recommendations. These figures underscore the need for coordinated systems of care, not fragmented services.
Dr. Amit Malik said: “Our vision begins with setting a new baseline for what mental healthcare in India should look like. We believe individuals should have access to benchmark-quality care safe, evidence-based, multidisciplinary, and supervised. Too often, even these basics are absent. By building services that consistently deliver this standard, we want to demonstrate that it is not aspirational, but the minimum individuals seeking support should expect. Beyond establishing that benchmark, we see ourselves as part of a larger ecosystem effort to raise the standard of care across the country.”
Amaha’s model combines clinical expertise, digital platforms, in-patient care and community partnerships to deliver integrated care at scale. Its flagship hospital in Bangalore anchors this ecosystem, ensuring individuals who need structured, intensive support receive it within a supervised, evidence-based environment while remaining connected to outpatient and digital care networks.
Dr. Malik added: “Collaboration, to me, is about reimagining capacity rather than just multiplying what already exists. The scale of India’s mental health needs means we cannot solve for it by simply increasing the number of clinicians. We have to build a much broader ecosystem of support. When hospitals, caregivers, corporates, insurers, and public health organisations work together, we start to embed mental health into the everyday touchpoints of people’s lives. That is the kind of collaborative change we need to truly strengthen mental health systems in our country.”
As India observes World Mental Health Day, Amaha’s approach signals a shift towards systemic, sustainable solutions where quality, and continuity of care are non-negotiable.
