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/news Medical tourism to grow to $2 bn by 2012 Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Kamal Nath has said that medical tourism has the potential to grow into a $2 billion industry by 2012. Speaking at the 4th India Health Summit on November 14, the minister said: “Large windows of opportunities are opening up. To give just one example, Indian medical tourism was estimated at $350 million in 2006 and this has the potential to grow into a $2 billion industry by 2012”. Nath stressed on developing new infrastructure for the healthcare sector in view of the tremendous opportunities that are available for public-private partnership. He said there were five areas for government and organized industry action in the healthcare sector, i.e., to create low-cost, high-quality facilities, with a focus on underserved areas; second is to work towards creating standards for high-quality healthcare; third is to invest in training and developing healthcare manpower; fourth is to work with health insurers to improve coverage; and fifth and most important is to create public-private partnerships in healthcare. According to the joint study by CII and McKinsey on this sector, Nath said: “During the 1990s, Indian healthcare grew at a compound annual rate of 16%. Today the total value of the sector is more than $34 billion. This translates to $34 per capita, or roughly 6% of GDP. By 2012, India’s healthcare sector is projected to grow to nearly $40 billion”.
FDI proposals worth Rs 500 cr cleared Finance Minister P Chidambaram has approved 22 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proposals worth Rs 511 crore, recommended by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. The proposals are related to various ministries including Commerce, Food Processing Industries, and Information and Broadcasting. Some of the important proposals approved include the Rs 155.74 crore proposal of PTC India Financial Services for induction of foreign equity by Goldman Sachs and Macqarie.
Revised guidelines for recognition of tour agents The Ministry of Tourism has said that initial recognition for all categories of travel trade viz., tour operators, travel agents, tourist transport operators, domestic tour operators & adventure tour operators shall now be given at the Headquarters for a period of five years instead of three years as was given earlier. This is based on the inspection report / recommendation of a Committee comprising of Regional Director concerned and a member of TAAI / IATO, etc. 8 DECEMBER 2007