Rs 6,631 Bed Vs Rs 50,508 Bed: House Panel Flags India's Widening Public-Private Hospital Divide

Published 12 August 2026 · health

News india Rs 6,631 Bed Vs Rs 50,508 Bed: House Panel Flags India's Widening Public-Private Hospital Divide Rs 6,631 Bed Vs Rs 50,508 Bed: House

News india Rs 6,631 Bed Vs Rs 50,508 Bed: House Panel Flags India's Widening Public-Private Hospital Divide Rs 6,631 Bed Vs Rs 50,508 Bed: House Panel Flags India's Widening Public-Private Hospital Divide Reported By, Edited By Last Updated: August 12, 2026, 09:17 IST The report says India’s public hospitals face wide gaps in beds, equipment, maintenance and staff, especially in rural areas, pushing patients towards costlier private healthcare Rapid Read The report said the private sector accommodates over 60 per cent of inpatient and 70 per cent of outpatient care. (Pexels Image for Representation) A stay in a private hospital in India costs an average Rs 50,508, nearly eight times the Rs 6,631 it costs in a government facility, according to a Parliamentary Standing Committee report tabled in both Houses on August 7, which warns that the country’s healthcare affordability crisis is “deepening" even as the private hospital sector races towards a $202.5 billion valuation. The 176th report of the department-related parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare, on “Affordability and Accessibility of Healthcare Facilities in Public and Private Sector", draws on the Statistical Office’s 80th round of the Sample Survey (January-December 2025) to conclude that the private sector, which carries the bulk of India’s patient load, has become structurally unaffordable for the households that depend on it.

What Does The Data Show? The gap is not marginal, it is huge. The committee, panel said, records that the average cost of inpatient treatment for an illness in India is about Rs 37,858, of which out-of-pocket expenditure accounts for about Rs 34,064—roughly 90 paise of every rupee spent on a hospitalisation still comes directly from the patient’s pocket, despite a decade of insurance expansion. Split by sector, the average hospitalisation cost is Rs 6,631 in government hospitals against Rs 50,508 in private hospitals, a 7.6-times differential. The report notes that private treatment is often five to ten times costlier than in government facilities, and that hospitalisation expenses in private hospitals can vary by 2 to 20 times higher than government facilities, with childbirth, cancer, heart disease and kidney failure showing the sharpest divides. The report said the private sector accommodates over 60 per cent of inpatient and 70 per cent of outpatient care. On other end, it said, the hospital market sits at valuation of $122.3 billion in 2025, projected to reach $202.5 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 10.6 per cent, showcasing that the private healthcare is fastest growing industry as well.