AYUSH Visa 2023
The government created a new category of AYUSH visa for foreign nationals seeking treatment under Indian systems of medicine, with an aim to promote medical tourism in India. AYUSH visa is a significant step towards providing foreign nationals access to traditional Indian systems of medicine including Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. The primary objective of this visa category is to attract individuals from across the world who seek specialized medical treatment offered in India. This includes people looking for holistic wellness, alternative therapies, and natural healing methods.
The introduction of AYUSH Visa complements the proposal to introduce a special visa scheme for foreigners coming to India for the purpose of treatment under AYUSH systems/Indian systems of therapeutic care, wellness and medicine like Yoga. Under this, after Chapter 11- Medical Visa of the Visa Manual, a new chapter i.e. Chapter 11A- AYUSH Visa has been included which deals with treatment under Indian Systems of Medicine and accordingly necessary amendments have been made in various chapters of the Visa Manual 2019.
Key Points of Ayush Visa:
- The objective of AYUSH Visa is to attract foreigners who want to pursue AYUSH medicine, wellness and yoga in India.
- The introduction of this visa is in line with the announcement made by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi at the Global AYUSH Investment and Innovation Summit (GAIIS) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat in April 2022.
- This will give a boost to Medical Value Travel in India and also strengthen the vision of making Indian Traditional Medicine a global phenomenon.
- The Ministry of AYUSH and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) are collaborating to develop a one stop Heal in India portal to promote India as a global medical tourism destination.
- Ministry of AYUSH is promoting AYUSH system of treatment at national and global level. Recently, it signed a Memorandum of
- Understanding (MoU) with India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), Ministry of Tourism, Government of India to promote medical value travel in Ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine.
- According to the Global Wellness Institute (GWI) report 'The Global Wellness Economy: Looking Beyond COVID', the global wellness economy will grow at a rate of 9.9% annually. The AYUSH based healthcare and wellness economy is estimated to grow to $70 billion by 2025.