The number of Bangladeshi nationals is around half of the total foreigners, who visited India on medical visa to avail healthcare facilities in 2016.
According to Home Ministry statistics of India, the highest number of medical visas in 2016 were issued to Bangladeshi nationals (99,799 citizens), followed by Afghanistan (33,955 citizens), Iraq (13,465), Oman (12,227), Uzbekistan (4,420), Nigeria (4,359) among others, reports NDTV.
The statistics showed that 201,099 medical visas were issued in 2016 to nationals of 54 countries across the globe.
This includes 370 people from the United Kingdom, 96 from Russia and 75 from Australia.
A survey conducted by a business chamber stated that the primary reason for making India a key destination for medical value travel was the treatment from accredited facilities at par with developed countries at a much lower cost.
Medical tourism in India is estimated at $3 billion and projected to grow to $7-8 billion by 2020, the survey said.
A home ministry official told PTI that many of these medical visas were issued under the E-visa category where a visitor can get the travel document online prior to the arrival in India.
Tourist visa on arrival (TVoA), enabled by Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), popularly known as e-tourist visa scheme, was launched on November 27, 2014.
Currently citizens of more than 160 countries enjoy the e-visa facilities to visit India.
Foreign patients travelling to India to seek medical treatment in 2012, 2013 and 2014 stands at 1,71,021, 2,36,898, and 1,84,298 respectively.
In 2015, around 1.90 lakh foreigners availed the medical facilities in India.