Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) introduced a new Ayush (AY) visa for foreign nationals for treatment under Ayush systems/Indian systems of medicine like therapeutic care, wellness and Yoga. With this, a new chapter i.e. chapter 11A – Ayush Visa has been incorporated after Chapter 11 – Medical visa of the Visa Manual, which deals with treatment under the Indian systems of medicine and accordingly necessary amendments has been made in various chapters of the Visa Manual, 2019. AYUSH is an acronym for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy.
Key Points:
- The Ayush Visa aims to attract foreigners who wish to undergo Ayush therapy, wellness, and Yoga in India.
- The introduction of this visa aligns with Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s announcement at the at Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit (GAIIS) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat in April 2022.
- This will boost Medical Value Travel in India, and also stregthen the vision of making Indian traditional medicine a global phenomenon.
- Ministry of AYUSH and the Ministry of Health & 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 national and globally. Recently, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), Ministry of Tourism, GoI for the promotion ofMedical Value Travel in Ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine.
- As per the report ‘The Global Wellness Economy: Looking beyond COVID’ by the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), the Global Wellness economy will grow at 9.9% annually. Ayush based healthcare & Wellness economy is estimated to grow to $70 billion by 2025.