Medical Tourism: Over 18 Lakh Foreigners Visited India From 176 Countries In Two Years

Hyderabad: India continues to grow as a medical tourism destination with people from more than 176 countries coming here for treatment of various diseases including cancer and also for organ transplants. The number of such visitors has more than doubled in the last five years with more than 18 lakh foreigners visiting the country between 2023 and 2025.

Reports by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) say that the global healthcare market has touched Rs 139.17 lakh crore with India accounting for 3.4% of the share. The country’s domestic healthcare market is estimated to be around Rs 33 lakh crore. A government spokesperson disclosed that the hospital sector accounts for 80% of this market. Meanwhile, India alone meets approximately 20% of the global demand for generic medicines.

In response to queries by parliamentarian Darshan Singh Chaudhary from Madhya Pradesh, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel claimed that the medical tourism sector holds immense potential worldwide and the central government is making various efforts to capitalize on this. The Ministry of Tourism is working closely with private hospitals and other government departments to further develop this sector. The government is promoting medical and wellness tourism through various schemes.

The Ministry stated that in 2023, about 6,43,541 people came to India on medical visas, which also included e-visas. Similarly, 15,650 people for medical treatment on medical attendant visas. However, no foreigner came to India on AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) and AYUSH attendant category visas during that year.

However, this number declined in 2024 with 6,24,761 arrivals but the year saw 1054 arrivals on AYUSH visa and 104 on AYUSH attendant visa. The arrivals recorded in 2025 were 5,08,330.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, if a person living abroad is seriously ill and needs to travel to India for immediate treatment, the government issues visas without delay. It expedites the process of granting medical and AYUSH visas based on the requirements of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Patients or their relatives in any country can contact the Indian Embassy there. The government has also issued helpline numbers for such cases.

A government spokesperson said that people from Bangladesh, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Somalia, Turkmenistan, Oman and Kenya account for the majority of the arrivals. In 2025, more than 3,00,000 patients from Bangladesh with Iraqi arrivals in second place.

Anupriya recently told the Parliament that while there has been a slight decline in the number of foreign patients from 2023 to 2025, this number has more than doubled from 2020 to 2025. In 2020, only 183 patients came to India, while in 2025, this number will reach over 5,00,000. The low number in 2020 is attributed to the Covid-19 lockdown.

In June this year, Travel and Tour World released a list of 50 medical tourism destinations in the world in which Turkey topped the list of medical tourist arrivals followed by Thailand, India, Mexico, South Korea, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Colombia.

The patients coming to India mainly come for the treatment of heart diseases, surgeries involving bones, joints, muscles, nerves and ligaments, organ transplants, neurological treatments, cosmetic surgery, dentistry, fertility treatments, AYUSH-based wellness therapies and cancer.

The cities leading in medical tourism are Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Goa, Bengaluru and Kochi. While cardiac surgery and organ transplants are performed extensively in Chennai, Mumbai offers cancer treatment and transplant surgery. New Delhi offers cardiology and Ahmedabad offers treatment for kidney and other ailments. There are over 69,364 government and private hospitals in India with around 12 lakh registered doctors.

The government said that the Home Ministry provides several relief measures to foreigners traveling to India for medical treatment. For example, the validity of e-medical visas has been extended from 60 days to one year.

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