India’s medical tourism industry suffers after stopping visas for Bangladeshis

India's medical tourism industry has shrunk around 50% to 60%, after recalling the staff from their Dhaka high commission and stopped visa issuance, says The Business Standard India.

Major industry players say that a significant share of their overseas medical tourists declined during the April to September period of the current financial year (H1FY25), with top players seeing a 25-40% drop in Bangladeshi patient volume, which has impacted their revenues considerably.

The neighbouring country contributes around 50-60% of India's total medical tourism inflow, according to a recent CareEdge Ratings report.

Market leader Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (AHEL) saw a 15% drop in overall international patient revenue in the first half of the year compared to last year, largely due to a 27% drop in revenue from Bangladeshi patients.

"At the height of the unrest in Bangladesh, there was a significant decline in volume, and most of that decline was among lower acuity patients, some of whom would come in for health check-ups and so on. Since then, that volume has gone back up substantially. I would say it has not returned to the peak levels we saw last year," said Madhu Sasidhar, President and Chief Executive Officer of AHEL.

The Indian government is allowing only emergency visas to Bangladesh nationals. The report had also predicted a 10-15% dip in footfall from the country. Other hospital chains echoed the same drop.

For Manipal Hospitals, around 10% of its overall revenue comes from international patients. At its centres in Kolkata and Bangalore, Bangladesh patients account for almost 40-45% of the total international patients.

"Our Kolkata and Bangalore centres attract significant patient footfalls from Bangladesh. Till July things were normal, post which it started deteriorating. September was the worst hit of the months which saw the patient flow drop by 50-60%. Things improved in October, and November has just begun. At present we are at 60% of our usual international patient flow from Bangladesh," said Karthik Rajagopal, chief operating officer, Manipal Hospitals.

While for Max Healthcare, international business contributes 9% of the total revenue. Its international business registered a growth of 18% year-on-year in the first half of 2024-25 against the same period last year, mainly due to increased business from other markets.

But revenue from the Bangladesh market saw a considerable drop. 

"The Bangladesh market contributes to about 5% of Max Healthcare's total international revenue. However, due to the recent political crisis there, revenue from this market declined by 50%. Max Healthcare has an established office in Bangladesh to support patients seeking medical treatment at our hospitals," said Anas Abdul Wajid, Senior Director and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Max Healthcare.

Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Kumar Verma had told the media last month that visas are being issued to those who need them on an emergency basis only, because of shortage in human resources.

Despite this, this is unlikely to have a major overall impact for India's hospital sector, as contribution of medical tourism to the entire sector is about 3% to 5%.

In 2023, around 635,000 medical tourists visited India, up from 475,000 in 2022, based on Bureau of Immigration data. Out of this, around 300,000-350,000 were from Bangladesh.