India’s healthcare sector may be expanding rapidly, but the bigger challenge lies in finding enough skilled medical professionals, according to Alisha Moopen, Deputy Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare.
Speaking about the company’s ambitious plans, Moopen said Aster aims to scale up from around 4,000 beds to 15,000 by FY29. This includes roughly 5,000 beds from its merger with Quality Care India and another 5,000 through expansion. Over the past year, the focus has been on integrating operations and ensuring the enlarged platform functions efficiently.
Despite the aggressive growth, the company is confident it can maintain profitability. Aster is targeting 15–17% revenue growth while improving margins from the current 21.9% by an additional 200-250 basis points over the next few years. This will be driven by a mix of operational efficiencies, merger synergies, and a stronger focus on high-value specialties such as cardiology, oncology, neurosciences, gastroenterology, and orthopaedics (CONGO), which currently contribute about 55% to the business.
The merger is expected to transform Aster from a regional player into a pan-India hospital chain, significantly accelerating its national expansion goals. Moopen noted that what was earlier a 7–10 year ambition could now be achieved much faster, with the company aiming to become the country’s leading listed healthcare provider within 3-4 years.
On expansion strategy, Aster is not strictly dividing growth between metro and smaller cities. Instead, it is prioritising optimisation of its existing network of 40 hospitals, identifying locations where demand is strong and capacity can be expanded.
Addressing concerns about overcrowding in metro cities, Moopen dismissed fears of oversupply. She emphasised that India still faces a significant shortage of hospital beds, and even ongoing expansion by major players will not be enough to meet demand. She added that patients increasingly prefer access to care within a short distance, creating opportunities across micro-markets within cities.
While new investors and conglomerates are entering the healthcare space, Moopen believes specialised hospital operators retain a competitive advantage. Building strong clinical programmes, research capabilities, and academic ecosystems takes decades and cannot be easily replicated.
However, she identified talent availability as the sector’s biggest risk. The growing demand for doctors, combined with global opportunities for Indian medical professionals, is intensifying competition. According to her, retaining talent depends less on compensation and more on offering clinical independence, research opportunities, and a strong professional environment.
On medical tourism, Moopen acknowledged a temporary dip due to geopolitical tensions in West Asia, particularly affecting inflows from Oman. However, the company offset this by expanding into markets like the Maldives and Africa. Medical value travel has grown by around 41% year-on-year and currently contributes 7–8% of revenue, with a target to reach double-digit levels.
Finally, she highlighted the role of technology and AI in improving hospital operations. By streamlining processes such as appointments, reporting, and discharges, Aster has reduced bottlenecks and improved efficiency, contributing to a 12% increase in patient volumes.
Overall, while capital investment and infrastructure are expanding rapidly, Moopen underscored that the real bottleneck for India’s healthcare future will be its ability to train, attract, and retain medical talent.