Dr Hariprasad (left) and Apollo Hospitals, Chennai. A heart bypass surgery in India costs around $6,500, while in the US it couid cost between $30,000 and $80,000, Hariprasad said.

The Indian medical tourism industry, which is projected to reach $2bn and grow at an annual average of 30%, has seen growing interest levels from patients from Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) and the greater Middle Eastern region.

“The proven Indian clinical competencies give India a huge competitive advantage. We have seen the number of patients visiting us from GCC region growing at a rapid pace. In the last few quarters we have seen a remarkable increase from the UAE, Qatar and Oman,” Dr K Hariprasad, CEO, Apollo Hospitals said.

Comparing global prices for medical treatment, India leads in the race for providing quality healthcare services at affordable prices, he said, highlighting that a heart bypass surgery in India costs $6,500, while in the US it costs between $30,000 and $80,000.

“This is a huge, untapped market, not just for therapeutic medical tourism like Ayurveda, but also for curative treatment,” he said.

Recently, Emirates, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, had teamed up with Apollo Hospitals, to connect international patients with quality healthcare services in India.

As part of the joint venture with Emirates Airlines, the patients and their attendants from 19 countries across Middle East and Africa can visit the hospital’s flagship locations in Chennai, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmadabad and Bangalore to avail specially formulated fares for round-trip flights on Emirates.

Chennai headquartered, Apollo Hospitals, has been accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI) USA. It caters to the patients travelling from Middle East with various speciality services it is recognised for. The hospital’s Chennai unit performs the highest number of Bone Marrow Transplant cases with a very high success rate.

The Chennai unit also specialises in Oncology as the centre was the first to introduce ‘CyberKnife’ and would be introducing the ‘Proton Beam’ in the near future. Other super-specialty services include ‘Mazor Robotic Spine’ surgery apart from heart, liver, lung and kidney transplants.