Medical Treatment in India for Nepali Patients

For many families in Nepal, a serious diagnosis — a heart condition requiring surgery, a cancer that needs radiation or chemotherapy, an organ that has failed — marks the beginning of a search that goes beyond what is locally available. Advanced procedures such as complex cardiac surgery, multi-disciplinary cancer care, organ transplants, and certain neurosurgical interventions have limited availability within Nepal, and specialist capacity can be stretched at the centres that do exist. The decision to travel abroad is rarely taken lightly; it is driven by a genuine need to access care that is simply not yet widely available at home.

India sits at a natural intersection of geography, language, and medical capability for patients making that journey. Major Indian hospital cities are reachable in a matter of hours from Kathmandu, shared cultural familiarity eases the experience, and the breadth of specialist expertise — from interventional cardiology and oncology to fertility treatment and transplant programmes — means that most conditions can be addressed without travelling further afield. The comparatively lower cost of treatment, without any compromise on the complexity of care available, makes India the most practical choice for the vast majority of Nepali patients seeking treatment abroad.

India's health partnership with Nepal is one of the most tangible expressions of the two countries' friendship. Under the Vaccine Maitri initiative (from January 2021), India supplied more than 9.5 million COVID-19 doses to Nepal on grant and commercial basis, and total COVID-19 assistance exceeded USD 7 million — including ICU beds, ventilators, RT-PCR kits, PPE, oxygen plants and vital medicines. A Medical Oxygen Plant installed at B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan in August 2021 can serve 200 patients simultaneously. India has gifted 1,049 ambulances to Nepal since 1994, including 40 handed over across 33 districts in June 2025. Under High Impact Community Development Projects, India has built and supported hospitals including the Nepal Bharat Maitri Emergency & Trauma Centre (INR 100 crore), and a 5-storey OPD complex at Bir Hospital. In April 2025, India extended USD 2 million in medicines for Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Disease patients.

People-to-people ties are equally deep. The Government of India provides more than 1,500 scholarships annually to Nepali students and has trained 600 doctors and 2,100 engineers from Nepal since 2013–14. Since 2001, over 3,300 Nepali professionals have benefited from ITEC capacity-building programmes. Nepal is the single largest source of foreign students in India: in 2023–24, Nepali students made up 24.1% of all international enrolments in Indian higher education institutions. Nepali citizens travel to India visa-free under the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, making India a familiar, culturally comfortable, and logistically straightforward destination — qualities that extend naturally to seeking medical care.

Sources: India–Nepal Bilateral Brief, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India (20 June 2024); Embassy of India, Kathmandu — Development Partnership page & Media Release on ambulance handover (June 2025); PIB press release on Vaccine Maitri (2021); MEA press release — Medical assistance for Thalassemia/Sickle Cell Disease (April 2025); Ministry of Education, All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2023–24, reported July 2026.

You do not need a visa to travel to India. Nepali citizens may enter India without a visa under the India–Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship (1950). There is no online application, no visa fee and no waiting period.

Carry a valid photo identity document. A passport is the most straightforward option — airlines, hospitals and banks in India will all accept it, and some carriers require one for boarding. Hospital admission and payment are far simpler with a passport than without.

You do not need an invitation letter for immigration purposes. We still provide a hospital appointment letter free of charge, which is useful for your own records and for the hospital's admissions desk.

Visa position verified on 28 July 2026 against the official source. Requirements can change — we re-confirm yours before you apply.

Most patients travelling from Nepal to India depart from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, which has the widest range of direct and connecting services to Indian cities. Travellers from Pokhara and Biratnagar typically connect through Kathmandu, though no scheduled direct international flights currently operate from Pokhara or Biratnagar to Indian airports — both airports handle domestic Nepal routes only, and onward travel to India requires connecting through Kathmandu may be worth checking for those in eastern or western Nepal. Principal arrival cities for medical travel include Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad, each home to major specialist hospitals. Flight times from Kathmandu to these hubs are short — roughly 1 hour 40–50 minutes to Delhi, about 1 hour 50 minutes to Kolkata, and approximately 2 hours 45 minutes to Mumbai, with Chennai typically requiring a connection and adding further time — making India one of the most accessible destinations for Nepali patients. Ginger Healthcare coordinates airport reception, transfers to the hospital or accommodation, and interpreter support from the moment patients land.