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India is one of the most profitable healthcare markets globally. The sector is one of the largest and rapidly-growing sectors in India, in terms of revenue and employment. The Indian healthcare sector comprises the sub-sectors of hospitals, medical infrastructure, medical devices, clinical trials, outsourcing, telemedicine, health insurance and medical equipment. The main challenge is to deliver affordable health care services to India's billion-plus population. This signifies enormous opportunities for the medical community and other service providers in India. The leading factors supporting the growth of the industry are- prevalence of various diseases, rising urbanization, untapped market, increasing life expectancy, and active private sector participation. The healthcare in India is controlled mostly by major foreign companies. The foreign companies have subsidiaries in the country, mainly because of the availability of cheap and skilled labor. The Indian healthcare sector is a rapidly-growing sector with high potential for future growth, both in urban and rural India. In the year 2011, the sector was sized at US$ 50 billion as it employs a total of 4.5 million people directly and indirectly within India. The sector is poised to grow to US$ 100 billion by the year 2015 and further to US$ 275.6 billion by 2020, according to the estimates by ratings agency Fitch. FDI in Hospitals and Manufacture of Medical and Surgical Appliances The economic reforms launched by the government from 1991 onwards have resulted in significant economic growth and the integration of India into the global economy. With the opening up of the Indian capital markets to Foreign Institutional Investors, the foreign direct investment regime too has been increasingly liberalised. The health care industry in India has been witnessing a potential upsurge for the past few years especially in the hospitals and manufacturing of medical and surgical appliances. The total inflow of FDI in India in the hospitals and diagnostics sector was US$ 1 billion from April 2000–April 2011, according to Department for Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), which is responsible for formulating the FDI policy in the country. FDI inflows to medical and surgical appliances are estimated to be around US$ 20.5 million. Medical and Surgical Appliances is Rs 981.7 million industry with a share of 10.59 percent in the global market. Some of the government initiatives boosting Indian healthcare sector are: There have been a number of initiatives taken up by the Government of India for the enhancement of healthcare sector in the country. Some of them are: 100 per cent foreign direct investment is permitted for health and medical services under the automatic route. The National Rural Health Mission had allocated US$ 10.15 billion for the up gradation and capacity enhancement of healthcare facilities. The aim of NRHM is to provide facilities of quality healthcare in India. In March 2010, the government allocated an additional US$ 1.2 billion for six upcoming AIIMS-like institutes and upgradation of 13 existing government medical colleges in order to meet revised cost of construction. About the Author: Harjeet is an Indian - born mass-market novelist, who covers the world internet related topics . He writes columns and articles for various websites and internet journals in the domain of Investments.
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FDI in India, healthcare in India, Indian healthcare sector, healthcare sector in India, foreign direct investment, pharmaceutical industry in India,
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