The growth of the healthcare industry in the country is being constrained by the high cost of delivery, according to leading consultancy firm McKinsey & Co.
"The market can be opened up if the industry can bring down the price at which it delivers its various services. This is going to be very important to drive investments in the sector. We have to see who is going to be the Maruti of healthcare," Gautam Kumra, principal, McKinsey, said on Wednesday at a conference on healthcare organised in New Delhi by the Confederation of Indian Industry. This would require healthcare companies to strive for operational excellence and pruning of costs, Kumra added.
He said private investments would drive growth in the sector in the years to come. According to McKinsey estimates, the country requires an investment of up to Rs 100,000 crore (Rs 1,000 billion) by 2012 for the healthcare delivery platform to reach two-thirds of the size in Brazil or Thailand.
"Almost 80 per cent of this investment will have to come from the private sector as the government will meet only 20 per cent of it," Kumra said.
He added that the industry would grow from Rs 100,000 crore at present to between Rs 200,000 crore (Rs 2,000 billion) and Rs 270,000 crore (Rs 2,700 billion) by 2012.
Earlier, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Vinod Khanna said India was well-positioned to tap the top end of the $3-trillion global healthcare industry because of the facilities and services it offered, and by leveraging the brand equity of Indian healthcare professionals across the globe.
He added that there was tremendous potential for co-operation between India and Pakistan in the healthcare sector.
"The Indian government will encourage initiatives for both our countries to work on a reciprocal basis," he said.
