In the coming year, the healthcare sector in Tamil Nadu could witness a consolidation towards multi-speciality institutions through mergers and acquisitions while standalone entities would find the going tough, according to C. Venkat Subramanyam, Founder and Director, Veda Corporate Advisors.
“Multi-specialities will see more consolidation, more M&As (mergers and acquisitions),” Mr. Subramanyam said at the valedictory of TANCARE 2025, a healthcare summit organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI). “The private equity game is more or less over except for chains of considerable size. Single specialities like eye care and diagnostics will also see more amount of M&As with larger players going in for private equity and IPO,” he added.
However, venture capital and private equities are expected to flow into some of the emerging single-specialities, such as geriatrics, continuum care, and health tech. The medical equipment, devices, and consumables segment is expected to do well in the next two years, he observed.
Wherever private equity enters, the cost of operations goes up, forcing smaller entities to eventually fold. Succession, too, was becoming a challenge in some of the healthcare chains triggering consolidation and willingness to look at controlling stakes. There is also opportunism that makes healthcare entrepreneurs prefer transactions in the face of attractive valuations, Mr. Subramanyam maintained.
A. Arun Thamburaj, Mission Director, National Health Mission, Tamil Nadu, said engagement between the government, private sector, and NGOs in key areas was crucial to face challenges arising out of an ageing population and rising non-communicable diseases like cancer.
The government, he said, was trying to rope in private partners for anomaly scans. Scanning eight lakh expecting mothers every year was a tall order and the government aims to start one anomaly scan centre in every medical college with private engagement and using insurance funds. Tenders for this venture have been floated, he noted.
The government was also exploring scope for engaging with private entities for setting up high end diagnostic hub. “We can provide space, support, and also bring certain high-end diagnostics under the ambit of insurance. We can also have one high-end diagnostic hub in Chennai where all medical colleges and private entities can avail of the services, especially for cancer,” Mr. Arun added.
G.S.K. Velu, Chairman, FICCI Tamil Nadu State Council and CMD, Trivitron Healthcare; Praveen Raj, Convenor, FICCI Tamil Nadu Healthcare Panel and JMD, Gem Hospitals Group; and S. Rajarajan, Co-convenor, FICCI Tamil Nadu Healthcare Panel and Group COO Hospitals, ASRAM, Eluru, Andhra Pradesh, spoke.
Published – December 19, 2025 11:22 am IST
