India saw an increase of 1,27,142 foreign patients during 2016 as compared with 2015, Minister of State for Tourism and Culture Mahesh Sharma revealed on Wednesday.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Sharma said that in 2014 India saw 1,84,298 foreign patients while 2,33,918 came in 2015 and 3,61,060 arrived in 2016 for medical tourism."Ministry of Tourism has released guidelines for promotion of medical and wellness tourism as Niche Tourism Product.""As per the guidelines, the ministry offers financial support to accredited Medical and Wellness Tourism Service Providers, chambers of commerce and other organisations as marketing development assistance," said Sharma.He said that tourism products, including medical and wellness tourism, are mostly driven by the private sector and costs of such services are determined by market forces.