India can double medical tourists by 2021, says Icra

The medical tourism sector has been growing at the rate of more than 20 per cent and is expected to double in size by 2021 because medical treatment is 60-90 per cent cheaper in India than in the US and also has the availability of skilled doctors and medical facilities.

Most patients come from the developing countries.

The revenue from international patients has grown at the rate of more than 20 per cent over the last three years for the large hospital chains analysed by Icra

K. Ravichandran, senior vice-president, corporate ratings, Icra said the recently approved liberalised medical visa regulations by the government that allows a 60-day stay against 30 days earlier and triple entry against single entry earlier has also given a boost to medical tourism.

It also provides significant opportunities to hospital chains in India, particularly to large players in metros and Tier-I cities.

An analysis of the hospitals revenues, showed that the average revenue per occupied bed of the sample set has increased by 37 per cent, to `30,504 in the nine months of 2017.

Consequent to the increase in bed capacity and ARPOB, the aggregate revenues have recorded a CAGR of 14 per cent during this period. The aggregate occupancy too has marginally improved to 64.7 per cent in the same period.