India's preventive healthcare market is set for growth amid a fitness shift, and this is the best time for entrepreneurs to act on it, according to Zerodha Co-Founder Nikhil Kamath. Highlighting the growing burden of lifestyle diseases, Kamath emphasised the urgency of preventive healthcare in a post on X on Thursday.
India's preventive healthcare market is projected at $197 billion in 2025, as per a Redseer Strategy Consultants report. Preventive healthcare involves exercise, healthy nutrition, health insurance, early diagnosis and health tracking.
"Everything health-related in the last decade felt like it was too early. This seems to be changing now, with health and longevity becoming mainstream in urban India. The timing might be right now for entrepreneurs to build something in health. Thoughts?" Kamath said on X.
Everything health-related in the last decade felt like it was too early.
February 27, 2025
This seems to be changing now, with health and longevity becoming mainstream in urban India. The timing might be right now for entrepreneurs to build something in health. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/aDBDKO4ujmKamath highlighted that average spending by health conscious Indians on preventive healthcare is around Rs 4000-10,000 and 51% of preventive healthcare market in India is fitness and wellness only.
He noted that 35% of richest Indians accounted for 98% of preventive healthcare spends.
"A cultural shift toward fitness is needed before the cost of inaction becomes irreversible," Kamath said.
India's Gym Culture
India has about 96,278 gyms. While gym culture is growing in the country, it is still in its nascent stages.
India lags far behind in gym subscriptions. USA leads in adult population with gym membership in select nations, with 21.2% subscription, as per World of Statistics data. USA is followed by UK in the list, with 15.6% subscriptions for gym memberships.
While, India has just 0.2% subscription to gym memberships. Besides, more than 50% of Indian gym members aren't regular.
Kamath highlighted that New Year resolutions drive 12.5% of fresh gym memberships, but 80% of these don't last even five months.
In fact, workout bonding has been an important motivation factor. For instance, running, ridding, or hiking in groups of 10 increases distance covered by 40%, compared to solo workouts.
Need For A Lifestyle Change
India's fitness and wellness market's projected size is around $98 billion. "India's fitness revolution is rising, but consistency remains a challenge," Kamath said.
Indian households are prone to significant wealth depletion due to diseases, as over 46% of the population lives an unhealthy lifestyle, as per India fit report 2024 by GOQii.
With a 1,300% increase in live fitness content consumption worldwide, Covid brought a much-needed boost for the fitness industry. And this consciousness is only going to benefit India, which still has a long way to go.
What could bridge this gap is women's participation in gyms which is about 45% today, Kamath said. "Government initiatives like the 'Fit India Movement' are further boosting the fitness wave in India," he added.
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