NEW DELHI, Dec 21 (Reuters): India's prominent hospital chains are shifting their focus to smaller centres and facilities as they chase growth in the booming healthcare market while coping with higher real estate costs and a dearth of land space in its cities.
Though healthcare facilities are still in short supply in most parts of India, and especially so in its towns and smaller cities, patients in the world's most populous nation are showing a greater preference for specialised-but-accessible amenities in the post-COVID pandemic era.
That trend is expected to form the bedrock of demand in the Indian healthcare market, which, according to forecasts by global consulting firms Boston Consulting Group and B Capital, is expected to grow near three-fold over eight years to $458 billion in 2030.
"We don't build facilities with 600-700 beds anymore as you have to be catering to a micro market," Temasek-owned Manipal's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Dilip Jose said, highlighting how India's second-largest hospital chain plans to focus on units with 250-325 beds.
The change is also reflective of infrastructure issues.
"Metro Indian cities are too large and the traffic at these cities is making it difficult for people for travel to one large hospital," said a spokesperson at children's-hospital chain Rainbow.
That is forcing hospitals to evaluate "micro markets" within the cities and build smaller hospitals to cater to them.
India has 1.3 beds per 1000 people, well below the World Health Organization recommended ratio of 3 per 1000, indicating it needs 2.4 million additional beds, a study by property consultancy Knight Frank and its US partner Berkadia showed.
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