Senior care a growing industry with many hurdles to cross: stakeholders

One in every four Indians is projected to be a senior citizen by 2050, which suggests that stakeholders in the senior living sector — investors, real estate developers, healthcare providers and technology providers — stand to gain from creating solutions for the silver generation.

While the senior living industry in the country is still in the nascent stage, companies that are currently providing such services are increasingly looking at the government to offer some relief at the policy level.

Speaking on the sidelines of Association of Senior Living India’s Ageing Fest in Bengaluru, association chairman Ranjit Mehta told ET: “There’s no single nodal agency — we currently deal with the Ministry of Social Justice, Urban Affairs and Housing, and Health. We’ve requested the government to streamline this.”

True changes will come when insurance companies start creating products for seniors, making the whole deal affordable, he said.

Currently, a senior home or apartment falls in the range of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore, catering only to the top 1-5% of the society.

There are currently fewer than 100 companies providing senior care in India. As per Mehta, about 1.8 million units are required to cater to seniors, while the country has only 40,000. The 18% GST on senior living services compared to only 5% on hospital care is also a huge pain point for the stakeholders, he said.

Ankur Gupta, joint managing director of Ashiana Housing, said the reverse mortgage policy needs immediate attention.The policy allows senior citizens to borrow against their home without selling the property, providing them with a steady income. “The government must push banks to implement it effectively. I once met a National Housing Bank official who claimed the policy was fine because no one was using it. If no one wants it, then the policy isn’t working. We need a framework that works for both banks and consumers,” Gupta said.

As per data from Niti Aayog’s report on Senior Care Reforms released in February 2024, India will have 319 million people aged 65 years or older by 2050, accounting for 20% of the total population.

VCs & developers

Venture capital firm Accel’s cofounder, Prashanth Prakash, said he is looking for ideas that not just offer one- or two-fold growth but are transformational.

He also highlighted the need for mainstreaming the idea of health managers. Everybody today is paying for a wealth manager if he or she earns above Rs 50 lakh in yearly income, Prakash said, asking: “Why can’t we have a health manager?” It’s about redefining family health offices in India, offering longitudinal tracking and data-driven engagement, he added.

Real estate players believe that there needs to be a better understanding of the model when building for senior care. Brigade Enterprises managing director Pavitra Shankar said: “Developers need a lot of financial innovation to do this at scale. Creating a rental model in this space and cracking the affordability issue are the key challenges we are experimenting with today.”