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Business Standard
26-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Rs 30,000 to Rs 3 lakh: More Indian nurses going abroad to earn 5x more
Indian nurses are increasingly seeking employment opportunities abroad, driven by a global shortage of healthcare professionals and the promise of better pay and working conditions. Countries like Germany, Ireland, Malta, the UAE, and Belgium are actively recruiting Indian nurses, offering competitive salaries and additional perks. For instance data provided by BorderPlus, a workforce mobility platform, shows a nurse in Germany can expect an initial monthly salary of €2,700 (approximately Rs 2.6 lakh), which can rise to €3,300 (around Rs 3.2 lakh) post-licensure—significantly higher than the Rs 20,000–40,000 typically earned in Indian private hospitals . This trend is facilitated by agencies like BorderPlus, which assist nurses in securing overseas positions. The demand for Indian nurses is particularly high in areas such as critical care, geriatrics, and prenatal services . To attract more professionals, several countries have eased entry requirements, including language proficiency and licensing exams. Earlier this month, BorderPlus announced a commitment of Rs 10 crore in scholarships over the next two years to support Indian nurses pursuing international careers. The initiative, revealed on International Nurses Day, is aimed at helping deserving and aspiring nurses navigate global career pathways by addressing barriers such as exam costs, documentation challenges, and lack of structured guidance. To support this initiative on the ground, BorderPlus also inaugurated its first regional Training and Support Centre in Kochi. The facility currently supports over 120 candidates and plans to expand its capacity to more than 500. Services include in-person exam preparation, counselling, and documentation support. Digital offerings from the Kochi centre will further extend assistance to nurses across Kerala and neighbouring states. The centre is operated by a local franchisee partner, with enrolments already underway. The company will also introduce digital-first solutions to streamline hiring, improve language training and ensure seamless integration for healthcare professionals. However, this migration has implications for India's healthcare system. With a nurse-to-population ratio of 1.96 per 1,000, India falls short of the WHO's recommended 3 per 1,000 . The exodus of nurses exacerbates this shortage, particularly in rural and underserved areas. Experts suggest that improving domestic working conditions, offering competitive salaries, and expanding training facilities are essential steps to retain nursing talent within the country . Citing figures from the regulatory body Indian Nursing Council, Association of Healthcare Providers (India) director general Dr Girdhar Gyani said last week there are more than 33 lakh nursing personnel registered in the country but this figure is dismal given India's 1.3 billion population. ''With 1.96 nurses per 1,000 population, India falls short of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended rate of three nurses per 1,000 population,'' he was quoted as saying by PTI. Director of the Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals, Dr Shuchin Bajaj told PTI, "While the shortage of nurses and their massive emigration to foreign countries is a cause for worry, there is a need to train them at home, especially amid the advent of health tech and other technologies." "The challenges are more persistent in Tier-2 and 3 cities, where there is a lack of a trained healthcare force despite the establishment of state-of-the-art hospitals or health facilities. Apart from that, the nursing community also looks forward to greater support from the government," he added. Why are Indian nurses in demand overseas? Indian nurses are in demand because of their strong clinical skills, English proficiency, and willingness to relocate. Agencies like BorderPlus help them transition smoothly by arranging jobs, visas, and even language training. How much do they earn overseas? Germany: Starting salary of €2,700/month (₹2.6 lakh), increasing to €3,300 (₹3.2 lakh) after licensure Ireland: Offers €1,700–2,500/month (₹1.7–2.5 lakh) Malta and ???????? Belgium offer similar packages UAE: Starting salaries around ₹75,000–1.5 lakh/month, plus tax-free income and perks According to Kerala government-run Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants (ODEPC), the salary offers from Dubai have more than doubled from 4,000-5,000 dirhams (Rs 80,000- Rs 1 lakh) to 10,000-12,000 dirhams (Rs 2 lakh-2.4 lakh). In comparison, many private hospitals in India pay just ₹20,000–40,000/month. For nurses, this is a no-brainer. It is estimated that Germany will need an additional 150,000 nurses in 2025. To overcome the shortage, there is an urgent need for structured and transparent hiring pathways to ensure a sustainable healthcare workforce in the region. To meet such growing demand, Germany aims to recruit 500,000 nurses by 2030, which facilitates ethical and structured migration pathways for healthcare workers. In April 2025, BorderPlus has acquired German healthcare recruitment firm Onea Care. With this acquisition, the company aims to formalise Germany's fragmented healthcare recruitment sector by facilitating skilled talent from India through "transparent and trustworthy" routes. Prior to the acquisition, Onea was sourcing talent from markets like Brazil, North Africa, Indonesia, Turkey, the Middle East, and Philippines. Now, the company will start positioning India as its primary market for sourcing candidates. 'It (the acquisition) also allows us to expand our sourcing to markets where Onea was operational in. We will now have multi-sourcing ability into Germany, which gives us more diversity and prevents over-indexing on the Indian market,' said Mayank Kumar, founder of BorderPlus.
Mint
23-04-2025
- Health
- Mint
Delhi reached out to private hospitals to join Centre's PMJAY health insurance scheme
New Delhi: The Delhi government is gearing up to implement the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PMJAY) and is onboarding large corporate hospitals to help reach the Centre's free health insurance scheme to more than 654,000 families. However, big corporate hospitals have raised concerns over delayed payments and low package rates. The National Health Authority, which is the implementing agency for the scheme is training state health authority officials and doctors on the scheme's modalities. The Delhi government has allocated ₹ 2,144 crore for PMJAY, which is the world's largest health assurance scheme, benefiting the poor as well as over-70s. 'NHA informed that it has started handholding Delhi government to implement the scheme. It has started the training of the State Health Authority, sensitizing hospitals, officials etc to onboard the scheme,' said an official familiar with the matter requesting anonymity. The official said the Delhi government is aware of the concerns raised by private hospitals and discussions are on. Dr Girdhar Gyani, Director General, Association of Healthcare Providers said, 'Delhi government had earlier had its own scheme. The government had earlier issued an order that all those empaneled with the Delhi government schemes are deemed to be empaneled unless they certify that they are not interested. Those bigger hospitals who are not part of the Delhi government scheme had a meeting a few days back to discuss the key concerns regarding the scheme implementation.' 'The main issue is that hospitals are concerned about timely release of funds within one month. We have to understand that treatment package rates are low and if cash flow is not good, it would be difficult for them. Private hospitals are planning to meet the Delhi government to discuss the matter,' he said. Major private hospital chains are not fully participating in the Ayushman Bharat scheme, primarily due to the inadequate pricing structure. The scheme's reimbursements fail to cover the genuine costs incurred by large hospitals, and these rates have not been adjusted for inflation, said on the corporate hospitals requesting anonymity. Dr. Narin Sehgal, Sehgal, Medical Director, Sehgal Neo Hospital and Secretary Delhi Chapter AHPI said the basic problem with PMJAY is payments to the hospitals are very low. 'The smaller hospitals will be able to take the PMJAY willingly, but bigger corporate have been urging to modify the rates. PMJAY is very good scheme. But, hospitals like Max, Fortis and Apollo may consider the scheme if government consider their requests. We are in touch with the Delhi government to discuss PMJAY implementation in the city," Dr Sehgal. Notably, Delhi has become the 35th state/UT to implement the PMJAY scheme. It is estimated that around three million poor and another 600,000 senior citizens will be the eligible beneficiaries, making a total about 3.6 million people in Delhi. A senior Delhi government official aware of the matter said there is no shortage of funds and the government is in continuous talks with the bigger hospitals to onboard them on PMJAY. 'We have held several meetings with the big corporate hospitals to discuss the scheme implementation. We are listening to their concerns and we are hopeful that we will join us,' the official said. A representative of Apollo Hospital said they are awaiting directions from the Delhi government. Queries sent to the Delhi government, health ministry, Max Hospital, Fortis ands Apollo spokesperson remained. First Published: 23 Apr 2025, 10:11 PM IST
