Govt to standardise costs of medical tourism services

In a big relief to foreign tourists who visit India for medical and wellness tours, the government has decided to standardise the cost of such services in the country through a centralised web portal.
"The growth of medical and wellness tourism in the country has been between 23 to 25 per cent in the country and there is a lot of potential here. That is the reason why we have decided to standardise the services in this sector," Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma today said.
The National Medical and Wellness Tourism Promotion Board, under the ministry of tourism, will come out with a draft Medical and Wellness Tourism Policy for the country on June 21 to streamline the niche travel segment so that tourists are not defrauded on such trips.

"We want to ensure that people who come to India to learn and see the different services like yoga and ayurveda and others are not cheated or discriminated against. We are creating a portal whereby they can assess the rates of services that range from medical treatment, yoga, wellness, spas and others.
"Information regarding qualification of experts, the kind of services available and where to go for such services will be available on the website for the tourists," said Sharma, adding that the prices for such services will be the same all over the country.
The website, Sharma said, will be live within the next three months.