“Can Consider Visa-on-Arrival for Medical Tourists,” Says Piyush Goyal

“The idea of visa-on-arrival for medical tourists is a good idea,” Union Minister Piyush Goyal said at an event. He was speaking during CII’s annual health summit on Tuesday in New Delhi.

“The idea about visa-on-arrival is a good idea. We will pursue that. For many countries, we allow visas-on-arrival, we allow e-visas. Both these can be considered, let’s say, for the United States, most European countries, not all, by the way, for most of the countries where we have a fair amount of comfort and where detailed investigations or inquiries are not required,” Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal suggested the CII to work on this idea and share with the Government. Of course, one has to look at what the certifications will be and what are the countries for which we can allow that, he added further.

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“India offers affordability. The price of therapy here would be one-fourth of what it would cost elsewhere in the globe. In certain nations, healthcare is provided as a component of social welfare expenditure. However, there is a significant waiting period. It might take six months to even schedule a dentist visit. Getting the procedure done by flying in (to India) is probably simpler,” he said. When speaking, Piyush Goyal said that it is probably better, cheaper, and quicker. He emphasized that medical tourism contributes to India’s GDP, foreign exchange earnings, and exports.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal emphasizes that medical tourism is an 800 billion USD business that might easily be worth over a trillion USD if the wellness and preventative care sectors are included. “We are looking at a huge business opportunity with India’s share being tiny at the moment,” he stated. Perhaps the market has not been captured by us due to infrastructural issues, or perhaps we need to change our regulatory procedures, he adds.