The history of voluntary blood donation in India dates back to 1942 during the second world war, when blood donors were required to help the wounded soldiers.

The history of voluntary blood donation in India dates back to 1942 during the second world war, when blood donors were required to help the wounded soldiers. The first blood bank was established in Kolkata, West Bengal in March 1942 at the All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health and was managed by the Red Cross. The donors were mostly government employees and people from the Anglo-Indian community who donated blood for a humanitarian cause. The number of voluntary donors declined after the war and donors had to be paid for the blood. Leela Moolgaonkar, a social reformer, initiated voluntary blood donation camps in Mumbai from 1954. The 1960s saw many blood banks open in different cities. Under his stewardship in 1975, J. G. Jolly, the president of the Indian Society of Blood Transfusion and Immunohaematology declared October 1 as the National Voluntary Blood Donation Day, which has been observed throughout the country ever since. The HIV pandemic in the 1980s led to the government setting up the National AIDS Control Organisation in 1992 to oversee the policies in preventing the spread of AIDS. Subsequently, the National AIDS Control Programme was launched which led to drastic improvements in patient screening and hygienic transfusion procedures. A public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme court in 1996 to abolish the practice of selling blood which became effective on 1 January 1998. Selling or donating blood in exchange of money is illegal under the National Blood Transfusion Services Act 2007 and those found convicted may face a prison sentence of up to three months with fine.