Industry Status

The government's move to accord 'industry status' to hospitals may well be the answer. To a large extent this will help private promoters access funds and land for setting up new hospitals. This has been a long pending demand of the sector, as most promoters were dependent on banks and private equity for funds. In Tier-II and Tier-III cities, the government will incentivise Public Private Partnerships for new hospitals to come up (especially in the context of the Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme) by allotting unencumbered land; it will also fund a resurrection of shelved projects.

Broadly, the government is offering time-bound clearances to ensure hospitals are empanelled for the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) and other schemes.

The government is offering Viability Gap Funding for private hospitals (like it might do for sectors such as infrastructure), up to 40 per cent of the total cost of the project with gap funding up to 50 per cent of tax on capital cost. India requires another 3.6 million hospital beds by 2034, and only one lakh-odd beds were added in the last decade. Industry status will definitely rejuvenate India's flailing private healthcare sector.