First the good news. An industry report says the Indian medical tourism industry, which was at a nascent stage not too long ago, has been growing steadily at 30 per cent a year, compounded. According to estimates, some 150,000 people from the West and African countries and other nations came to India to get treated simply because the cost of medication and hospitalisation was much higher in their countries.

The not-so-good news is that while the number sounds impressive, it could be much better. Consider this. Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia combined attract ten times the medical tourist traffic that comes to India. While steps have been taken to boost this sector, industry experts say that with the right initiatives, the industry can grow to a size of $20 billion with 2.5 million jobs.

A positive, albeit extraneous development, is the interest generated by insurers in the west, who are exploring the possibility of offering economical covers to citizens of their countries for the treatment they avail in Indian hospitals, as the cost of treatment and procedures in India is about a tenth and a fifth of those available in the UK and US, for instance.

India also has an edge in terms of a very low waiting period. In the West, a patient would normally have to wait two or three for his turn at the hospital. Speaking to The Indian Express, chairman, Fortis Group, Harpal Singh said, “I expect a 15 per cent growth in foreign patients this fiscal. This could go up to 25 per cent a year once the international airports in India are modernised.”

... contd.