Want to come back: Bangla patients contact Kol hosps

Kolkata: The formation of a new govt in Bangladesh and the resumption of visa services between India and Bangladesh are set to revive medical tourism in Kolkata. Calls have started pouring in from Bangladeshi patients to Kolkata hospitals, asking about visa invitation letters (VIL). Hospital administrators here expect a boost in patient footfall in about two to three weeks.Private hospitals in Kolkata, especially those along E M Bypass, got between 1,000 and 6,000 Bangladeshi patients a month before the July 2024 uprising there. "On a daily average, we got about 180 patients from Bangladesh. It went down to around 20 earlier and started picking up to around 40 in the past week. In the past couple of days, inquiries have started coming in, about 130 a day, for VIL," said Sudipta Mitra, CEO, Peerless Hospital.
Even as medical visas were not totally suspended, they were primarily limited to urgent, emergency, or critical cases, and were delayed."Most Bangladeshi patients seek cancer care and cardiac surgeries in our facility. From an average of 35 patients a day, the number dwindled drastically. But since Tuesday, we have started getting calls about VIL requests," said Subhasish Datta, chief general manager, operations, Ruby General Hospital.At RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, the Bangladeshi patient count dipped by over 50% between Oct 2024 and June 2025. While numbers started picking up in the next two months, they started dipping from Sept by around 40%. "With the recent developments on visas, we can expect the footfall to go up by next month, more after Eid," said R Venkatesh, group COO, Narayana Health.Manipal Hospital regional director, east region, Ayanabah Debgupta said the Bangladeshi patient count dipped by about 90% earlier. "Now, we have started getting lots of calls from patients from our neighbouring country. We are optimistic about patients coming in as early as the next few weeks," Debgupta said.Sources said in addition to visa issues, the relationship between the two countries, which were strained, also put patients in a fix. "While some hospitals in the south and north, like Delhi, get international patients from countries, including South Africa and Europe, Bangladesh was Kolkata's best bet, with future prospects being Myanmar. The recent development is going to impact the city's medical tourism positively," said Prashant Sharma, MD, Charnock Hospital, and chairman, Indian Chamber of Commerce healthcare committee.