India’s healthcare infrastructure could face a major capacity gap over the next decade, with the country expected to require nearly 2.9 million additional hospital beds by 2035 to move closer to the current global benchmark, according to a new report by CBRE South Asia.
The expansion could create demand for around 2.6 billion sq. ft. of additional healthcare real estate over the next decade, as hospitals and other healthcare facilities expand to serve a growing and increasingly diverse patient population.
CBRE’s report, “Beyond Core: A 2035 View of India’s Alternate Sectors – Part I,” estimates that India had around 2.1 billion sq. ft. of healthcare real estate in 2025. The country currently has about 1.6 hospital beds per 1,000 people, compared with the global average of 3.3 beds per 1,000.
Closing this gap will require a significant increase in healthcare infrastructure across the country. The scale of the requirement could open new opportunities for healthcare developers, investors and operators to build specialised and scalable facilities.
Healthcare capacity varies significantly across states
The report points to major differences between states when hospital capacity is assessed alongside the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
States such as Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand have relatively low hospital bed availability despite significant disease burdens. This indicates potential unmet demand for secondary and tertiary healthcare services.
In contrast, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have comparatively stronger healthcare infrastructure and higher household incomes. These markets could support further growth in specialised hospitals and broader healthcare ecosystems.
“Healthcare is emerging as one of India’s most consequential real estate opportunities, not simply because demand for care is increasing, but because the country needs a far deeper and more distributed physical healthcare network,” said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO, India, South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa, CBRE.
He added, “Built-to-suit (BTS) structures can play an important role in addressing this requirement by providing operators with specialised, purpose-built clinical infrastructure aligned with their operational and regulatory needs. This would allow healthcare providers to direct more capital towards clinical services, medical equipment and technology, while offering property owners greater income visibility through long-term leases.”
Healthcare real estate moves beyond traditional hospitals
India’s healthcare expansion is also extending beyond conventional hospital projects. Diagnostic centres, day-care surgery facilities, wellness and preventive healthcare centres are gaining importance, particularly in urban markets.
The emerging formats include health screening centres, rehabilitation clinics, eye-care centres, IVF facilities and vaccination centres, reflecting a broader shift towards specialised and accessible healthcare delivery.
CBRE also sees growing interest in single-speciality hospitals, outpatient and day-care facilities, and acquisition-led expansion.
In highly competitive urban markets, some healthcare operators are exploring acquisitions of existing hospitals as a faster route to expansion. Such strategies can provide access to established infrastructure, licences and existing patient networks.
Medical office buildings could emerge as another growth segment
Another relatively new opportunity is the development of medical office buildings, where multiple healthcare providers can operate from the same facility.
Such developments could accommodate diagnostics, rehabilitation, child development services, IVF, eye-care, dental and wellness providers under one roof. Co-locating these services could improve patient convenience while enabling more efficient use of healthcare real estate.
“India’s healthcare infrastructure requirement cannot be addressed through a uniform development model,” said Rami Kaushal, Managing Director, Consulting and Valuation Services, India, Middle East and Africa, CBRE. “The current landscape creates scope for a diversified development pipeline, ranging from large integrated healthcare campuses and multi- and single-speciality hospitals to medical office buildings, diagnostics and day-care facilities. In addition to top cities, tier-II and tier-III locations are particularly important in this context, where lower land costs and the availability of larger parcels can support cost-efficient, purpose-built healthcare developments.”
Expanding healthcare footprint
India’s projected healthcare infrastructure requirement points to a significant opportunity to develop a more distributed network of hospitals and specialised healthcare facilities. With demand extending beyond major metropolitan centres, tier-II and tier-III cities are also expected to play an important role in the next phase of healthcare development.
The combination of rising healthcare needs, infrastructure gaps and evolving care models could make healthcare real estate an increasingly important part of India’s broader healthcare growth story through 2035.