Piyush Goyal Sets 10-Million Target For Medical Value Tourism

(MENAFN- Live Mint) India should target 10 million medical value tourists a year, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday, stressing the need for greater participation by hospitals, trained caregivers, seamless patient journeys and stringent quality standards to expand India's healthcare services globally.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of Sanjeevani 2026 at Bharat Health Global Expo 2026 in New Delhi, Goyal outlined a five-point action plan to strengthen the country's medical value tourism ecosystem and position India as a global gateway for health and wellness services.

He said the first priority should be to train and certify caregivers and create a skilled workforce capable of providing healthcare to international standards.

The second priority should be to encourage more hospitals to join the Heal in India gateway and to publish honest, transparent treatment packages. Hospitals must follow ethical practices and should not attempt to cheat patients, he said, warning that even one such incident could hurt India's goodwill, credibility and business.

His third priority was to make the patient journey more seamless. He called on insurers and health-tech companies to develop products and platforms that enable timely reimbursements and wider availability of cashless payments. Teleconsultation and telemedicine, he said, could also become an important part of the medical value tourism journey even before a patient travels to India.

Fourth, he called for exhibitions and presentations in countries around the world, facilitators and tie-ups with hospitals globally. He said international patients should be treated only at NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers)-accredited, verified and panelled hospitals.

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The fifth priority, he said, should be for states to focus on quality in hospitals and wellness centres, expand their networks and make good-quality facilities globally visible. Medical value tourism should also expand beyond metropolitan cities to tier-II and tier-III cities, creating jobs and business opportunities while helping improve healthcare infrastructure for Indian patients.

Goyal also suggested creating a pool of interpreters for international patients speaking different languages, saying this would improve communication and give patients greater confidence during their healthcare journey.

Equal treatment

The minister stressed that healthcare standards should not differ between Indian and foreign patients. India should provide every Indian patient with the same quality of healthcare that it would provide to someone coming from abroad, and should not discriminate between rich and poor.

Patients travelling to another country for treatment, he said, experience anxiety and seek clarity, dignity, ethical practices and integrity from the healthcare system. Those coming to India from Africa, Asia, America and Europe place their trust in the country at every stage of their healthcare journey.

He said India has clinical excellence and advanced technologies, while healthcare costs in the country are 60-80% lower than in other parts of the world, particularly developed countries.

India's pharmaceutical industry, medtech sector, diagnostics, and traditional systems of medicine, including Ayurveda, Yoga, and Unani, along with its doctors, nurses, technicians, caregivers, and hospitals, collectively form the country's strength, he said.

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According to Goyal, expansion of the sector can generate employment and business opportunities across pharmaceutical and medical equipment manufacturing, hospital infrastructure and healthcare services.

He said around 3.5 million patients have benefited from India's medical value tourism ecosystem over the past seven years, but the country should aim to serve 10 million patients annually.

He said the country has the ability, doctors and ecosystem required to achieve that target, while stressing that high standards, ethics, integrity and honesty must remain central to the expansion.

The minister said healthcare providers must go the extra mile in caring for international patients and ensure that India's growth as a medical tourism destination is built on trust.

He said India should not miss the opportunity presented by medical value tourism and should use its healthcare capabilities to serve both domestic and international patients.

The minister said the objective of Bharat Health was to bring together the country's fragmented healthcare ecosystem and called on stakeholders to work collaboratively.

Healthcare, he said, is an area where collaboration is particularly important because even a small error can have serious consequences.

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He emphasized that the expansion of medical value tourism must be accompanied by quality, professional integrity and ethical practices.

He described the Quality Council of India as one of the important institutions for the country's ambition to become a developed nation by 2047 and said maintaining high standards would be central to India's future.

The minister also stressed the importance of professional integrity in healthcare certification and said the NABH system should be professionally managed and free from influence.

He urged stakeholders to report any unethical practices involving NABH or other certification bodies and said they should approach the government if such issues arise. Eliminating corruption, he said, is a key focus of the government.

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