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Business Standard

Bangladesh unrest cuts India's medical tourism revenue by up to 35%

Political unrest in Bangladesh, combined with the rise of a government seen as unfriendly to New Delhi and deteriorating bilateral ties, appears to have dealt a blow to India's medical tourism sector. Medical tourism revenues from Bangladeshi patients have reduced by 30–35 per cent in FY25. Typically, Bangladesh accounts for 70–75 per cent of the medical visas issued by India, analysts said. Anuj Sethi, Senior Director, Crisil Ratings, told Business Standard that 'Medical tourism revenues from patients in Bangladesh arriving in India for medical treatment is estimated to have reduced by around 30–35 per cent in fiscal 2025 due to regime change and political unrest in Bangladesh, mainly in the first half of the year.' Hospital majors such as Apollo Hospitals Enterprise and Manipal Hospitals took a hit in their FY25 revenue due to the drop in footfall from Bangladeshi patients who usually visit centres in eastern and southern India. Apollo saw a significant fall in revenues from Bangladeshi patients—from ₹80 crore last year to ₹30 crore in Q4FY25. Aashita Jain, analyst with Nuvama Institutional Equities, said the impact on Apollo's revenue was around 1.5 per cent in FY25, and around 2 per cent in Q4FY25. Manipal Hospitals too saw a major decline in patients from West Bengal and Bangladesh, dropping by nearly 75 per cent compared to previous years. 'Earlier, around 10,000 medical visas were being issued per month; however, this has now been reduced to only 800–900 priority medical visas. Additionally, 19 visa centres in Bangladesh have been closed by the Indian High Commission, further impacting patient inflow,' said Karthik Rajagopal, Group COO, Manipal Hospitals. The decline in Bangladeshi patients is significant, as 70–75 per cent of medical visas issued by India are to Bangladeshi nationals, ICRA highlighted. Mythri Macherla, Vice President and Sector Head, Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA, said the proportion of revenues from international patients ranges between 3–9 per cent for most listed hospitals. In CY2024, overall medical tourist inflow to India dipped to 625,000 from 659,000 in CY2023. However, compared to 2022 (when 475,000 medical tourists visited India), the numbers are up 32 per cent, showed data available with the Bureau of Immigration. "There has been a drop and it has sustained for some time. The fourth quarter of FY25 witnessed the biggest drop that we have seen so far. We are continuing to see difficult cases like paediatric cancer patients from these countries, as they are getting medical visas to travel. However, a large number of patients certainly dropped off," said Madhu Sasidhar, President and Chief Executive Officer, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (AHEL). Bangladesh has long been the largest source of medical tourists to India, with a 48 per cent year-on-year surge bringing 449,570 patients in 2023 alone. For the entire financial year, AHEL witnessed a drop of ₹100 crore in revenue from Bangladeshi patients. In FY24, the company's Bangladesh share of medical tourism was ₹320 crore, which dipped to around ₹220 crore in FY25. For Apollo, the share of international patients is around 6 per cent of its revenue. Sources said the industry is seeing a rise in patients from Africa and Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Timor-Leste and the Philippines, in addition to advanced economies. Another industry source said Pakistani hospitals are now trying to woo Bangladeshi patients. However, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. As Sethi pointed out, 'Process of granting visas for medical tourism for patients from Bangladesh is gradually normalising and we expect the process will take 6–8 months in fiscal 2026 to revert to normalcy. Hence, revenues for private hospitals from medical tourists coming from Bangladesh will be impacted this fiscal too.' Footfall from other countries is also on the rise. "Despite the geopolitical tensions which led to a decline in footfalls from patients from Bangladesh, some listed hospitals reported improvement in international patient revenues in FY2025 led by higher footfalls from other countries and increasing ARPOB,' Macherla pointed out. For example, Max Healthcare saw a 28 per cent growth in revenue from international medical tourists in Q4 despite a fall in patients from Bangladesh. Bangladesh accounts for only 5 per cent of Max's international patients. Abhay Soi, Chairman and Managing Director, Max Healthcare, said in the post-results analysts' call that they have had more than 25 per cent growth in the international medical tourist business for a 'long period of time' and the 28 per cent growth is 'in spite of these bottlenecks'. Going forward, ICRA expects the proportion of international patient revenues to remain largely range-bound and expects the overall revenues from international patients to grow at a much slower pace as compared to overall revenues till the geopolitical tensions are resolved.