India Projected to Need 2.6 Billion Sq. Ft. of Additional Healthcare Real Estate by 2035: CBRE
New Delhi, October 16, 2026: India is projected to require an additional 2.6 billion square feet of healthcare real estate by 2035, driven by the need for nearly 2.9 million incremental hospital beds to align with global infrastructure benchmarks, according to a report by CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd. titled “Beyond Core: A 2035 View of India’s Alternate Sectors – Part I,” released via a press release.
India currently has approximately 1.6 hospital beds per 1,000 people, below the global average of 3.3. To close this gap, the country’s healthcare real estate footprint must expand substantially from an estimated 2.1 billion square feet in 2025. Analysis of non-communicable disease prevalence and bed density highlights disparities across states. Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand show low hospital bed density relative to disease burden, while southern states like Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana possess stronger infrastructure and higher household incomes to support specialised medical expansion.
“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. “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.”
The report notes growing interest in single-speciality hospitals, day-care and outpatient facilities, diagnostic centers, and acquisition-led expansion. Emerging models like medical office buildings are also expected to co-locate services such as IVF, eye-care, and rehabilitation within single developments.
“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.”
