PE firms are buying India's hospitals
India's hospital ownership is getting a big makeover. Instead of being run by doctors and founders, many hospitals are now owned by global private equity (PE) firms and sovereign funds.
Over the last five years, these investors have poured in $15.5 billion—most of it to buy stakes in hospitals.
From 2022 to 2024 alone, nearly $5 billion went into hospital deals, making up a huge chunk of all healthcare investments.
What do the deals look like?
Big names like Temasek and Blackstone have snapped up major hospital chains. KKR made headlines by earning over five times its money from Max Healthcare, while Temasek got involved with Manipal Hospitals and Blackstone took over Quality Care.
What's driving all this? More people in India have health insurance now, medical tourism is booming, growing 3.5 times between 2020 and 2024 to $7.69 billion, and PE-backed tech upgrades, such as robotics adoption, are making hospitals more efficient—so both patients and investors are seeing the benefits.