Korea spent $720, Brazil $453, Thailand $349 and China $143. Expenditure in this sector stood at about Rs 1,030,000 million annually, which was only 5.2 per cent of the country''s GDP, he added. However, there was greater demand for quality healthcare services in India than ever before, due to increased awareness and pressure arising from the growth of the Indian insurance industry, he said.

Dr Reddy said there was number of portents pertaining to the healthcare industry, which were visibly bullish. According to him, the service industry would play a growing role within India, and the country was attractively placed to leverage this trend, he said.

He said the skills available within India, especially in Apollo hospitals, were second to none in the world, as borne out by the fact that India''s doctors, nurses, technicians and now Apollo''s medical business process outsourcing team, were providing services to hospitals in the US.