Apollo's Bangladesh patient revenue nears pre-crisis peak of ₹450 crore

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise is witnessing a strong recovery in medical tourism from Bangladesh, with revenue from the neighbouring country expected to be closer to its pre-crisis peak of ₹450 crore this year, a top company executive has said.

"The revival comes after seeing a dip in Bangladesh patient revenue to ₹120 crore per annum. Revenue from Bangladesh patients is already on a recovery track, with the current annualised revenue run rate estimated at ₹350-360 crore this year," Krishnan Akhileswaran, Chief Financial Officer of AHEL, told Business Standard. He also added that the planned Apollo HealthCo demerger would be completed by the end of the fourth quarter of FY27.

"We have seen a year-on-year growth of 80 per cent in Bangladesh alone. Bangladesh patient revenue was ₹450 crore two years back, before the crisis. Africa has also grown 30 per cent. We have also seen very good growth from Europe, though on a lower base," Krishnan told Business Standard. Political unrest in Bangladesh, combined with the rise of a government seen as unfriendly to New Delhi and a dip in bilateral ties, had affected the medical tourism sector in India in 2024 and 2025.

According to official data, the total number of foreign medical patients in India dipped to 507,000 from a peak of 659,000 in 2023 and 625,000 in 2024. Apollo, being the market leader, was one of the worst hit. Bangladesh has long been the largest source of medical tourists to India.

The recovery in international patient services (IPS), along with strong performance across its hospital network and diagnostics business, supported the company's performance during the July-September quarter of FY27. The international patient services business registered growth of nearly 37 per cent during the quarter.

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This comes at a time when the company is going through a major restructuring phase, which is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of FY27. As part of the restructuring, Apollo HealthCo will first be demerged from AHEL into a new entity, Apollo Healthtech Limited (AHTL), following which its pharma distribution arm, Keimed, will be merged into the new company.

"We continue to stay committed to the guidance given two years ago that by the end of this financial year, the demerged entity, comprising Apollo HealthCo and Keimed, would be running at around ₹25,000 crore with ₹1,500 crore of EBITDA. This is well on track to ensure that we get listed by the end of Q4," he said.

He said that Apollo Hospitals is also progressing with its capacity expansion programme. "Out of the 4,718 beds planned to be operationalised over the next five years, 520 beds have already been commissioned. The remaining capacity will come on stream in phases, with around 1,400 beds expected to be commissioned over the next 12 months," he added.