Looking for a nose job or a tummy tuck? It’s destination India. Asia’s third-largest economy is looking to further its reputation in the services sector by targeting the $36 billion global market for cosmetic medical services, or cosmetic surgery, which is growing at over 5 percent annually.
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In the past five years, scores of Indian travel websites and entrepreneurial plastic surgeons have sprung up to use the power of the Internet to tap the "nip & tuck" or "pop for an op" market.
“We get 200 enquiries a month. Our patients are mainly from the UK, followed by U.S., Canada, Australia and African countries and the growth has been appreciable,” says Shweta Bhargav, a spokesperson for Indicure, a cosmedical tourism facilitator that reaches out to clients worldwide in 53 languages and has internationally certified surgeons on its panel.
According to a report by Global Industry Analysts, one of the world’s largest market research agencies, the U.S. is the biggest market for cosmetic procedures and is expected to reach $17.57 billion in 2015. In Europe, the market is expected to hit $2.66 billion by the same year.
According to consultants Deloitte, as many as 10 million Americans will seek medical remedies abroad by the year 2012 combining it with holidays, and India has its eyes trained on them.
Corporate hospital chains in India now have exclusive clinics focused on the cosmetic surgery market. In December 2010, India’s largest corporate healthcare group Apollo Hospital launched two exclusive cosmetic clinics in India’s southern cities of Chennai and Hyderabad. Plans are to set up six more across the country.
Chairman Dr. Prathap C Reddy said at the launch, "In the $1 trillion U.S. beauty and life enhancement market, $500 billion is with beauty shops and the rest with medical specialists. Apollo is gearing to tap that opportunity."
Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairman of Narayana Hrudalaya, often known as the Henry Ford of India for his low-cost medical services model, also has plans to set up a dedicated cosmetology clinic and aesthetic dentistry clinics across the country this year.
Other hospital groups in India like Fortis, Wockhardt and Max Healthcare have tied up with top U.S. medical travel facilitators websites like Healthbase.com and MedRetreat.com to cater to cosmedical tourism.
Dr. Ayyappan Thangavel, a practicing plastic surgeon in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, says the country is seeing a huge cosmetic surgery explosion.
"My patients are housewives, students, businessmen, entertainers and they come from the U.S., U.K., Europe and Africa. About 80 percent of these foreign patients come for cosmetic reasons and only 20 percent for reconstructive procedures."
There are also a number of so-called "default patients." Like in the case of American Bill Vestal who runs an entertainment company. He came to Dr. Ayyappan for a dental implant, only to return a year later with his wife who was tempted to get a facelift given the lower cost here.
"India has all the ingredients to become a top-notch cosmetology hub. So long as it puts in place the right regulatory mechanism, the sky could be the limit," says Dr. Mohan Thomas, Medical Director at Cosmetic Institute of India (CSI) who is fashioning his cosmetic surgery practice in Mumbai on the lines of world-renowned Brazilian surgeon Ivo Pitanguy, known to be the "miracle man" behind several Hollywood stars.
There are several factors that work in India’s favor to become a front-runner in this market. First it has the expertise, around 2,500 certified plastic surgeons and their number is fast growing. A sizeable number of these doctors have been trained in the U.S., U.K. and Germany and have been certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, plus they have had long careers in international markets before returning home to practice.
According to a global survey conducted by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), India was ranked fourth with 894,700 surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures in 2010 thus accounting for 5.2 per cent of all procedures done worldwide. The Indian market is 14 times larger than Thailand, known as Asia’s plastic surgery hub, according to a recent study done by IBI Partners, an Asia-focused market research agency.
A report published by the Planning Commission of India shows the huge cost advantage that India has.? In general, a plastic surgery procedure that will cost $20,000 in the U.S. and $10,000 in Britain, will be $3,500 in Thailand and only $2,000 in India, the report said.
A botox treatment that costs $500-$800 in the U.S. can cost $150-$250 in India, a facelift will be $6,500 in the U.S. and just $2,800 in India, while a liposuction costs around $2,500 in India compared with $8,000 in the U.S.
Besides cost-competitiveness India also has a unique advantage that could catapult it ahead of its peers Thailand or Singapore. It is its tradition of Ayurveda and yoga, both Indian-origin practices that are now being perceived the world-over as complementary rehabilitative practices to modern surgical procedures.
"Cosmetic surgery is not just about altering the biological clock or genetics. It is as much about feel-good, wellness and self-confidence. The experience can be enhanced in India by Ayurveda and yoga practices," say Dr. Thomas.
"Our forecasts say that in the next three years India will be the most promising market in Asia with foreign patients almost doubling — from 8 percent in 2010 to a 15 percent market share,” says Paul Benning, Head of IBI Partners in Singapore.
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