India’s healthcare sector has become a very large part of the country’s economy today and it is becoming its own identity in the world. After Kovid-19, the speed in this sector has not only changed the structure of health services, but has also given a new place to government and private investment. According to 2022 data, India’s healthcare sector was $ 372 billion and it is believed that it will increase to $ 638 billion by 2025. Its size in 2024 was more than $ 400 billion and it is growing at a speed of about 22% every year.
Big change in health sector after Kovid
The Kovid-19 epidemic completely changed India’s healthcare system. This increased the importance of health services in the eyes of both the people and the government. After that the government took vigorous steps to strengthen the health structure, promote telemedicine and implement new features like digital health records. According to IBEF, in 2023, India’s healthcare sector was a total of $ 372 billion, including diagnostics, medical devices and telemedicine. At the same time, the number of patients coming from abroad for medical tourism i.e. treatment also increased considerably. In 2023, about 6.34 lakh foreign foreigners came for treatment in India, which was about 6.87% of our total international tourists. In 2024, India’s medical tourism market was about $ 7.69 billion, and it is believed that by 2029 it will increase to $ 14.31 billion.
Pharma industry increases strongly
India’s pharma and biotechnology industry is rapidly strengthening its grip in the world. The Pharma sector aims to reach $ 130 billion by 2030, while biotechnology can be 150 billion by 2025 and $ 300 billion by 2030. According to the EY report, India has become an important player in the world’s pharma industry by giving the availability of essential medicines and cheap health solutions.
Big employment boost in health sector
In terms of employment, the health sector is playing a big role in India’s economy. According to IBEF, in 2024, this sector has given jobs to about 7.5 million people and by 2030 it is expected to add more than 10 million new jobs to it. The government is also very active to strengthen this sector. For example, Ayushman Bharat Scheme, which is considered to be the largest public health insurance scheme in the world, is aimed at providing health protection to all the people of the country. Also, facilities like digital health records, telemedicine and insurance are also being provided digital under the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM).
Need to improve government hospitals
Although the healthcare sector of India is moving very fast, but it also has many big challenges. According to the report of Statista, the Government of India still spends less on health than in developing countries. Because of this, people have become mostly dependent on private hospitals. According to the report, in the year 2022, 65% treatment was done in private hospitals, while only 35% of patients were treated in government hospitals. Not only this, there is a lot of lack of health infrastructure in the country of 1.42 billion people. According to a report by Knight Frank, India needs about 2 billion square feet new health facilities to meet its needs. But where there are challenges, there are also opportunities. The same situation is in the medical field. There is a lot of potential in the medical device sector, especially in the medical device, whose market can reach $ 50 billion for the next few years.