India tries to attract foreign investment in the health sector
New York, (PTI)
Foreign investment opportunities in the fast expanding health sector in India are vast and profitable with a payback period of five to six years, an Indian delegation said here.
"Scope for foreign investments exists in the highly specialized areas where the Government is unlikely to invest because of heavy cost. The private sector has to fill the gap," Co chairs of Healthcare Committee of Confederation Indian Industry (CII) Naresh Trehan and Suneeta Reddy told a gathering of healthcare professionals and investors.
In their presentations, both stressed that expansion needs to be seen in the context of not only foreigners coming for treatment in India but also rising domestic demand for better healthcare facilities with high degree of efficiency.
Stating that the healthcare sector is in for a major expansion, currently India spends $22 billion or 6.1 per cent of GDP on healthcare and provide employment to 4 million people, they said in a seminar organized at the Indian Consulate here on Healthcare and Medical Tourism in India.
A CII-McKinsey analysis, they said projects that by 2012, India would be spending $45 billion or 8 per cent of GDP on healthcare and the sector would provide employment to 9 million people.
In her welcome address, Indian Consul General Neelam Deo stressed that the high rate of success in sophisticated medical procedures and high class nursing were among the factors in increasing medical tourism in India.
To cater to the projected demand, Trehan said, massive investments by both the Government and the private sectors are required. But the private sector would require to invest a major part of it.
In recent years, the speakers said India has become a preferred destination for patients seeking specialized care.
The combination of high quality and low cost facilities is attracting growing number of international patients and last year an estimated 150,000 came in for treatment in a few specialized facilities, they said.
But Reddy, Director (Finance) of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, spoke about India offering holistic medical service, yoga -- meditation, ayurveda besides modern medicine.
Thus the number international patients coming to take advantage of multifaceted facilities would be much greater, the speakers pointed out.
Trehan, the executive director of Escort Health Institute and Research Centre, said patients come not only for specialized treatment but also simple treatments though the former gets more publicity.
Stressing that some of the specialized treatments cost just one-sixth to one-tenth of the cost of similar procedures in advanced countries, Trehan said cost is only one of the factors in their decision to seek treatment in India.
India needs 7,50,000 hospital beds immediately including 1,00,000 in the specialized treatment category, they said.
But Trehan said, "Medical Tourism" is not the right term and suggested using "Medical Value Travel" till "someone comes up with a better expression".
Director of Quest Diagnostic, USA, Dr Harvey W. Kaufman said they plan to set up laboratories and diagnostic services in India in a big way.
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