On a national scale, the high burden of TB in India is illustrated by the estimate that TB accounts for 17.6% of deaths from communicable disease and for 3.5% of all causes of mortality (WHO, 2004). More than 80% of the burden of tuberculosis is due to premature death, as measured in terms of disability-adjusted life years  (DALYs) lost . WHO estimated TB mortality in India as 276,000 (24/100,000 population) in 2008. With RNTCP implementation, there is 43% decline in death due to TB in India by 2008 is compared to 1990.

It was estimated that the TB mortality was over 500,000 annually at the beginning of the revised national TB control program (RNTCP). Data from specific surveys, however, suggest that case fatality rates prior to RNTCP were generally greater than 25%. In RNTCP era, case fatality has remained less than 5% for new cases registered under the program.