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Liver Transplants in India: India has become the world’s leading country in living donor liver transplantation. Doctors of Delhi-NCR have a big contribution in this. In the year 2024, about 5000 liver transplants were performed in India, most of which were from living donors. In both the years 2022 and 2024, Delhi performed the maximum number of transplants at the national level and strengthened its identity at the global level. Advanced technology and safe medical infrastructure have made Delhi a global hub.
Delhi-NCR Liver Transplant Cases: India seems to be at the forefront in the world in the matter of live donor liver transplantation. The capital Delhi has a big contribution in this. This has come to light in the annual conference of Liver Transplantation Society of India (LTSICON 2025). In this, experts from more than 20 countries gathered to review India’s growth in transplant science. If we look at the figures, about 5000 liver transplants were done in India in the year 2024, which included 3946 live donor liver transplants. All these transplants were supported by more than 200 active centers across the country.
According to health experts, living donor liver transplant is a surgery in which a healthy person removes a part of his liver and donates it to a patient whose liver is not functioning properly. Part of the donated liver is transplanted into the patient. The specialty of this surgery is that the liver parts of both the donor and the receiver automatically return to normal size within a few weeks. Data from the Global Observatory on Organ Donation and Transplantation (GODT) and the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) show that India now performs the largest number of living donor liver transplants (LDLT) in the world. In this, maximum transplants are done in Delhi-NCR.
According to a study published in the National Medical Journal of India 2025, 39.5% of all liver transplants in India were done in Delhi-NCR in the year 2022. This region performed 1548 transplants, of which 1514 were live donor transplants. This number is the highest in India. This progress continued in the year 2024 also and Delhi-NCR completed 4357 living donor liver transplants. This number is extraordinary not only in India, but also in the world. If seen globally, India was at third place in total liver transplants in 2022 after America and China. However, when it comes to live donor liver transplant, India is number 1 in the world. India’s 3183 LDLT is much more than Türkiye, South Korea, China and America.
Apart from this, the percentage of cadaver liver transplant in India has also increased from 11% in 2009 to 18.8% in 2022, which reflects the developing health system. Experts believe that the basis of Delhi’s success is a well-organized and transparent model. Here, multi-level evaluation of both donors and liver recipient patients is done at medical, psychological and ethical level, thereby ensuring the safety and quality of liver transplant. Compared to western countries, low cost and high success rate have made Delhi a hub for patients from Asia, Middle East and African countries.
