Eyeing Long-Term Bets? India's Healthcare Sector Offers Four Key Themes For Next Decade

India’s healthcare sector is entering a phase of sustained, structurally driven growth, with limited near-term volatility and significant long-term opportunity, according to Amit Varma, Managing Partner at Quadria Capital, one of Asia’s largest healthcare-focused private equity firms.

Speaking to NDTV Profit, Varma said he remains firmly bullish on healthcare over the next few years, even as other sectors grapple with global uncertainty. “Our portfolio companies continue to grow revenues at 15–20% year-on-year, with stable EBITDA margins,” he said, adding that barring short-lived disruptions such as tariff announcements, the sector has remained resilient.

Varma highlighted four key themes that he believes will dominate healthcare investment over the next decade.

First, single-speciality hospitals, where standardisation, brand trust and insurance-driven patient flows are reshaping care delivery. Despite growing visibility, branded hospitals and diagnostics still account for less than 10% of India’s healthcare market, leaving substantial headroom for growth.

Second, CDMO and CRDMO businesses, which are emerging as global manufacturing and development partners. The signing of the US Biosecure Act, which restricts US companies from working with certain Chinese entities, could accelerate the shift of projects towards India. However, Varma cautioned against viewing this as a short-term windfall. “This is an inflection point. India needs to prove it can take responsibility for global supply chains.”

Third, medical technology, particularly import substitution. India continues to rely heavily on imported devices, and Varma sees strong opportunity in local manufacturing and innovation to replace these imports.

The fourth theme is healthcare services focused on value creation and optimisation, such as revenue cycle management and technology-enabled services that improve efficiency for global healthcare providers.

Varma attributes this stability in the sector to persistent structural gaps — inadequate healthcare infrastructure, limited public spending and rising demand driven by ageing populations.

Much of healthcare delivery is local in nature, while pharmaceutical and medical technology supply chains cannot be relocated quickly. “Moving supply chains is a three-to-five-year process at best,” he noted, adding that core pharma and medtech businesses are unlikely to see material disruption in the near term.

Looking ahead, Varma said global healthcare demand will increasingly diversify beyond the US, with ageing populations in Europe, Japan, Korea and Australia opening new markets. “One day, we may thank today’s trade disruptions for forcing India to look beyond its comfort zones,” he said.