Home > Resources > Blogs > View Blog

View Blog

Champion Services Sector Scheme for Medical Value Travel

- June 2021 | By Vibhi Dixit

The Ministry of AYUSH has announced the Champion Services Sector Scheme for Medical Value Travel to encourage medical tourism in the country, with a focus on India's traditional system of medicine, and promote and export these systems of medicine in India.
AYUSH blog.jpeg

The Ministry of AYUSH has announced the Champion Services Sector Scheme for Medical Value Travel to encourage medical tourism in the country, with a focus on India’s traditional system of medicine, and promote and export these systems of medicine in India. Additionally, the scheme seeks to create skill development opportunities, and enhance job creation in the traditional medicine systems sector.

To this end, the ministry has invited proposals for private participation by 23rd June 2021, to establish health care centers recognized under the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970, or Homoeopathic Central Council Act, 1973, in the greenfield mode. These hospitals, established all over the country would be geared towards providing medical services under the Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy systems of medicine to patients, including international patients.

The scheme aims to encourage private participation in this endeavour by providing interest subsidy to private players for establishment to World Class, State-of-the-Art Super Speciality hospitals under three categories: a) 50 bedded hospitals; b) 10 bedded hospitals; and Day-care centres. The quantum of financial support will be in the form of interest subsidies in descending order, from 100% in the first year, to 20% in the fifth year. After the expiry of five years, the hospitals would function independently. It is important that it be noted that the scheme is only applicable to construction of new hospitals.

The investor and developer of these hospitals and health care centres would be responsible for ensuring their proper functioning and maintenance. They would also be responsible to provide bio-medical waste management systems and ensure the payment of minimum wages to all workers. Furthermore, they would bear the charge of end-to-end facilitation of international patients, such as providing transportation, language interpretation facilities, etc.

The timeline to complete the project has been capped at three years, with the hospital being functional for 15 years from its day of commencement. Projects would be shortlisted following a three-step selection process along the defined eligibility criteria, and would finally be approved for financial support by the Project Sanctioning Committee constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary, AYUSH.

Overall, the scheme would lead to enhanced medical tourism in the field of the traditional systems of medicine in India and promote and propagate AYUSH on a global scale, while creating space for capacity building and skill development in the space.