ABSTRACT
Background: Healthcare for mothers and children is a significant indicator of a country's well-being. In-dia is one of the nations that were experiencing a rather slow improvement in maternal and child health. Aims: The objective of this study is to analyse the changes in health infrastructure, government health expenditure, antenatal care, postnatal care, institutional delivery, Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) and the determinants of MMR in India. Methodology: The study is based on secondary data. It employs an Average Increasing Rate (AIR) and Average Reduction Rate (ARR), as well as a panel data random effect model. Results: Empirical results say MMR has a statistically significant inverse relationship with female litera-cy, Per capita Net State Domestic Product (PNSDP), and institutional delivery. The study concludes that after the introduction of NRHM and its constituent elements like JSY and JSSK, government expenditure on health, health infrastructure, the percentage of antenatal care, post-natal care, and institutional deliv-ery increased in most of the Indian states, thus helping to increase the pace of the reduction of MMR. However, state performance varies greatly. Conclusions: Policy alone will not provide the desired results; it is also critical to focus on education, particularly female literacy, and economic empowerment.