Social psychiatry in India is heralding a paradigm shift in mental healthcare. The traditional Western-based model has become unavailable, unaffordable and inaccessible to large sections of the population—especially the marginalized, in India and many of the Low and Middle Income (LAMI) countries. This calls for a paradigm shift in our approach to medicine and psychiatry with greater focus on social factors and social determinants of health. Mental health is of low priority in most countries with poor investment, poor infrastructure and inadequate personnel. Social psychiatry has started receiving greater attention in India and the world heralding a new approach to mental healthcare, which is inclusive of all. This paper discusses the roots of social psychiatry in India, its history and relevance, the contributions to the Indian Association for Social Psychiatry, milestone studies, stigma, suicides, the role of spirituality and religion and other related social psychiatry topics from India, which is relevant to Asia and the rest of the world.