NEW DELHI, Sept 13: Tough fall of rupee against dollar has proved advantageous to the patients from the West Asia, Africa and SAARC countries to the extent of 35 per cent to 45 per cent on complex surgeries at affordable rates this year, industry body ASSOCHAM said today.
While releasing the ASSOCHAM paper on ‘Falling Rupee: Lower Cost of Medical Travel’, D S Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM said the information gathered by ASSOCHAM Social Development Foundation (ASDF) from the various private hospitals and nursing homes revealed that the inflow of patients has also gone up around 40 per cent during the last six months.
“The cost of medical treatment in India is already considered to be about the lowest of any medical destination, the current decline in the rupee may bring even more medical tourists to India’s top hospitals,” Mr Rawat added.
The paper further stated that the current market size of the Indian medical tourism sector is about Rs 7,500 crore and likely to touch Rs 12,000 crore by 2015 with the growth rate of about 25 per cent per annum.
The inflow of medical tourists in India is also likely to cross 45 lakh by 2015 from the current level of 25 lakh, the report stated.
The country attracts large number of medical tourists from the West Asia, America, and Europe and also from neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, it added.
(UNI)
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