Foreign investment opportunities in the fast expanding health sector in India are vast and profitable with a payback period of five to six years, an Indian delegation said in New York.

"Scope for foreign investments exists in the highly specialized areas where government is unlikely to invest because of heavy cost. The private sector has to fill the gap," Co Chairs of Healthcare Committee of Confederation Indian Industry Naresh Trehan and Suneeta Reddy told a gathering of healthcare professionals and investors.

In their presentations, both stressed that expansion needs to be seen in the context of not only foreigners coming for treatment in India but also rising domestic demand for better healthcare facilities with high degree of efficiency.

Stating that the healthcare sector is in for a major expansion, currently India spends $22 billion or 6.1 per cent of GDP on healthcare and provide employment to 4 million people, they said in a seminar organized at the Indian Consulate in New York on Healthcare and Medical Tourism in India.

Quest to set up diagnostic labs in India

A CII-McKinsey analysis, they said projects that by 2012, India would be spending $45 billion or 8 per cent of GDP on healthcare and the sector would provide employment to 9 million people.

In her welcome address, Indian Consul General Neelam Deo stressed that high rate of success in sophisticated medical procedures and high class nursing were among the factors in increasing medical tourism in India.

To cater to the projected demand, Trehan said massive investments by both government and the private sectors are required. But the private sector would require to invest a major part of it.