New Delhi, May 2 (IANS). The government on Saturday said that India is emerging as a major center of ‘Medical Value Travel (MVT)’ i.e. medical tourism, and the medical tourism market can grow from about $ 8.7 billion in 2025 to about $ 16.2 billion by 2030.
Globally, the MVT market was valued at approximately $115.6 billion in 2022, which is projected to reach approximately $286.1 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 10.8 percent.
An official statement said that due to rising healthcare costs, long wait times and increasing burden of lifestyle diseases across the world, people are turning to foreign countries for treatment.
The rise of MVT (Mature Vehicle Therapy) in India is driven by the integration of advanced medical infrastructure with traditional health systems like AYUSH. Apart from this, strong policy support, digital facilities and initiatives like AYUSH Visa and Regional Medical Centers are strengthening the sector.
India’s MVT system works in two segments—one, medical tourism for treatment of serious illnesses and two, wellness tourism based on AYUSH systems like yoga and Ayurveda.
Together, they address the needs of advanced treatment and growing preventive healthcare.
India received 9.15 million foreign tourists in 2025, of which 5,07,244 came for medical treatment. That means the share of medical tourism in the total foreign tourists was about 5.5 percent.
The major countries coming to India for medical tourism in the year 2025 include Bangladesh (325,127), Iraq (30,989), Uzbekistan (13,699), Somalia (11,506), Turkmenistan (10,231), Oman (9738) and Kenya (9,357).
According to the Medical Tourism Index 2020-21, India ranked 10th among the 46 leading medical tourism countries in the world, while fifth among the top 10 wellness destinations in the Asia-Pacific region.
India’s health services are backed by strong quality standards and an internationally recognized certification system. Hospitals and healthcare providers across the country are accredited by the National Board for Accreditation of Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH), which ensures patient safety and quality of treatment.
As part of further planning, the government has proposed to create five Regional Medical Hubs in Budget 2026-27. These hubs will have medical, education and research facilities, as well as AYUSH centers and MVT facility centres.
–IANS
DBP
