India’s rise as a global medical tourism hub reflects a strategic blend of cost-effective healthcare, policy innovation, and traditional wellness systems.
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In an era marked by rising healthcare costs and long waiting times in developed nations, an increasing number of patients are choosing to cross borders in search of affordable, high-quality medical care, a phenomenon known as medical tourism. Medical tourism refers to travelling purportedly to receive low-priced and sophisticated medical care, where the quality of the medical centres is primarily what makes someone decide to receive care outside their country. The Medical Tourism Index (MTI) helps patients weigh such factors by ranking countries based on the appeal of the destination, healthcare systems, and service quality. India holds the 10th rank (out of 46) globally in the MTI, offering international patients savings of 60 to 90 percent on treatments. Canada tops the index due to its proximity to the United States (UN) and its world-class healthcare system, followed closely by Singapore.
The international medical tourism market has increased exponentially, from US$ 32.02 billion in 2021 to US$ 35.77 billion in 2022, with a year-over-year growth rate of 11.7 percent. Even during COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war, which led to sanctions and supply chain disruptions, projections estimate the industry can grow up to US$ 54.43 billion by 2026 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.1 percent. This indicates the growing importance of medical tourism and India’s positive position in the market.
India’s emergence as a front-runner in medical tourism can be attributed to its post-economic liberalisation of the 1990s, followed by strong growth in the private healthcare industry. During this period, major private hospitals in big cities began receiving an increasing number of foreign patients, especially from South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and even Western countries. Owing to India’s relatively cost-effectiveness, the 2002 National Health Policy encouraged the treatment of overseas patients by including it as a form of deemed export.
India's distinctive characteristics, such as its large pool of qualified and English-speaking doctors, its advanced diagnostic infrastructure, and the fact that it offers both modern and traditional medical treatments, including Ayurveda and Yoga, have all made it more appealing to people throughout the world.
This policy shift was complemented by strategic initiatives such as the ‘Heal in India’ campaign and the liberalisation of travel visa policies to facilitate medical travel. To bolster global confidence, many Indian hospitals pursued Joint Commission International (JCCI) accreditation. India's distinctive characteristics, such as its large pool of qualified and English-speaking doctors, its advanced diagnostic infrastructure, and the fact that it offers both modern and traditional medical treatments, including Ayurveda and Yoga, have all made it more appealing to people throughout the world. India's healthcare system in 2025 is on par with the best medical tourism destinations, including Thailand, Singapore, and Türkiye, owing to globalisation.
Medical tourism in India has experienced an unforeseen yet dynamic expansion, marked by structural shifts rather than a linear trajectory of development. India has been placed seventh among the world's top 20 wellness tourism markets with over 560 lakh trips and earning roughly US$16.3 billion in revenues while holding the third rank among wellness-focused countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Leading medical tourism hubs include Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore. According to the Ministry of Tourism (2022), Punjab (29.22 percent) and Maharashtra (17.6 percent) received the majority of international medical tourists in 2021, while Tamil Nadu (17.02 percent) and Uttar Pradesh (16.19 percent) were the top destinations for domestic medical travellers. The same year, 21.2 percent of all international tourists visited India for medical purposes.
Recognised among the top 10 nations by the Medical Tourism Association, India is cementing its place on the global medical tourism map. Bangladesh is India's top source country for inbound medical tourism, and 54 percent of medical tourists come from the country—over 449,000 visitors alone in 2023. Between 2016 and 2019 (Figure 1), medical foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) steadily rose from 4.27 lakh to 6.97 lakh, before plummeting to 1.83 lakh in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the downturn, tourism-related foreign exchange earnings peaked at INR 2.11 lakh crore in 2019.
Figure 1: The Total Year-wise Foreign Tourist Arrivals for Medical Purposes (2016-2024)
Source: Data compiled from the Bureau of Immigration (BOI), *: Provisional
To boost the sector, India initiated schemes such as a National Strategy for Medical and Wellness Tourism, e-medical visas, overseas marketing, and a Medical and Wellness Tourism Board. The Ministry of Tourism also extended financial assistance under the Market Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme, approving INR 10.2 lakh in 2018–19 for overseas events and INR 7.5 lakh in 2020–21 for health missions to Ethiopia. The sector gained momentum post-pandemic, with over 5.4 lakh medical-related arrivals recorded under Free Travel Authorisations (FTAs) in 2023, reflecting a 40 percent growth compared to the previous year. The 2025 Lok Sabha report states that the recovery is supported by initiatives such as the launch of the official Medical Value Travel (MVT) portal, expanded e-visa access, and targeted infrastructure investments in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
One of the primary concerns surrounding India’s medical tourism boom is the widening disparity between privileged and marginalised groups. The healthcare market is under increasingly polarised conditions, with poorly financed public institutions on one end and first-class corporate hospitals on the other. The sector has also expanded in a largely unregulated manner. A major weakness lies in the absence of a comprehensive regulatory framework, where some private institutions tend to downplay risks or exaggerate offerings, raising ethical concerns. Informed consent and data protection concerns are especially relevant when patients hail from varied legal and linguistic environments.
A major weakness lies in the absence of a comprehensive regulatory framework, where some private institutions tend to downplay risks or exaggerate offerings, raising ethical concerns.
Furthermore, the priority accorded to medical tourism can also be stressful to the locally available medical facilities. Experienced staff tend to move to private medical facilities to serve wealthy domestic or foreign patients, and public health centres remain understaffed. Budgetary allocations towards lucrative procedures such as cosmetic surgery or organ transplants for foreign clients can lead to the abandonment of basic public health care. The COVID-19 pandemic has also highlighted the shortcomings of this approach, and there has been a temporary shift toward focusing on important domestic healthcare needs.
Indian policymakers must balance the international healthcare business prospects and the internal healthcare requirements. Key steps could include expanding the scope of bilateral agreements with strategic provisions such as simplified e-visas and visa waivers, which ease patient mobility and foster institutional partnerships. The India-Bangladesh agreement has significantly increased cross-border patient inflows. Improving the medical visa process remains vital. While over 650,000 medical visas were issued in 2022, certain countries such as Iran, Kazakhstan, and Qatar continue to lack access to e-medical visas. Opening up this facility more broadly would remove major hurdles for international patients.
To elevate India's stature in the global medical tourism landscape, it must learn from international best practices and emerging competitors. Türkiye and Dubai have established elaborate healthcare ecosystems supported by streamlined visas, effective governance, and international accreditations. India has its cost advantage, but bureaucratic inefficiencies and policy inconsistencies persist. A recent INR 20,000 crore investment in MVT (Medical Value Tourism) is a welcome move towards integrated growth.
India must invest in advertising and outreach to highlight its sophisticated healthcare system and the range of treatment options.
Furthermore, insurance reforms that offer comprehensive coverage for existing ailments, surgery, and travel costs would make the patient experience smooth and build confidence. Additionally, India must invest in advertising and outreach to highlight its sophisticated healthcare system and the range of treatment options. India's value offer will be to support and expand AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy) healthcare centres through focused government intervention.
Promoting joint ventures between Indian and international healthcare providers can enhance service quality by facilitating knowledge transfer and providing a more comprehensive patient experience. The ‘Heal in India’ initiative, developed in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of AYUSH, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), and Service Export Promotion Council (SEPC), is aimed at marketing modern and ancient healthcare on a single digital platform, offering end-to-end support for medical tourists. To catalyse these efforts, India should also promote foreign direct investment (FDI) in healthcare infrastructure through public-private partnerships (PPPs), a model successfully implemented by medical tourism leaders such as Thailand
Finally, India's medical tourism policy must be directed towards focused regional outreach in three potentially lucrative market niches: (1) the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Southeast Asian Nations, (2) the Middle East and Africa, and (3) Europe and North America. With the adoption of this integrated policy approach in conjunction with a market-led vision, India is well-positioned to expand its medical tourism market to an estimated US$ 13 billion by 2026, establishing it as a global hub for affordable, high-quality, and culturally appropriate healthcare. As the world redefines healthcare in the post-pandemic era, India has the opportunity to lead with compassion, inclusivity and innovation. The road ahead is promising- not only for the economy, but also for the millions of lives that will find healing and hope within our borders.
Nysa Arora is a Research Intern with the Health Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation.
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Nysa Arora was a former Research Intern with the Health Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation. ...
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