India’s Rainbow Children’s Medicare (RAIB.NS) is set to expand its services for international patients in an effort to triple the revenue generated by that business this year. The Hyderabad-based pediatric hospital chain plans to increase its current 1,655 beds across hospitals in six cities with an additional 1,000 beds over the next five years. Additionally, the company plans to upgrade facilities supporting complex surgical procedures. Rainbow Children’s Medicare reported an annual revenue of 11.74 billion Indian rupees ($141.33 million) and expects the international patient segment to contribute 3% of total revenue in fiscal 2024, compared to 1% last year, with a target of reaching 10% over five years. Research and Markets estimates that India’s medical tourism market will reach 2.67 trillion Indian rupees by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 34.92% between 2023 and 2027.
Chairman and Managing Director of Rainbow Children’s Medicare, Ramesh Kancharla, stated that the hospital chain started attending to international patients only after the pandemic. The focus has been on quaternary care, including liver, kidney, and bone marrow transplants, which created the opportunity to expand internationally. Rainbow Children’s Medicare serves patients from Bangladesh, Africa, Bahrain, and India, with 22,239 foreign patients using its services last year. Kancharla highlighted that India is a preferred destination for neighboring countries due to its advanced healthcare infrastructure compared to theirs. Rainbow Children’s Medicare is also constructing a 400-bed hospital in Delhi’s National Capital Region (NCR) with the aim of benchmarking it as an international hospital. The company went public in May 2022.
