history of Madras. When India attained independence in 1947,
the Madras province, comprising Tamil Nadu and parts of Kerala
in the west and Andhra Pradesh in the north continued as the
State of Madras. But the demand for a separate Telugu speaking
state compelled the Government of India to bifurcate the state
into two, into the Telugu-speaking Andhra Pradesh and Tamilspeaking Tamil Nadu. The old capital Madras city was retained by
the new Madras state. Under the States Reorganization Act 1956,
Madras lost the Malabar district and the Kasaragod taluk to the
newly formed Kerala State. At the same time, Madras gained four
taluks of Trivandrum district and one taluk of Kollam district. In
1969, January, Madras State changed its name to Tamil Nadu.
The capital city was renamed as Chennai in 1996. Tamil Nadu, a
state in Southern India, is bordered on the North by the State of
Andhra Pradesh, on the Northwest by the Karnataka State, on
the West by the Kerala State and on the East and South by the
Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. Occupying an area in the
extreme south of the Indian peninsula, Tamil Nadu has an area of
130,058 sq km (50,215 sq mi). The State of Tamil Nadu is divided
into 32 districts, which in turn are further bifurcated into smaller
divisions and subdivisions including a total of 17,272 villages.
Chennai formerly known as Madras, is the capital city of the state
and India’s fourth largest metropolis. It extends over an area of
174 sq km. This city houses Asia’s largest hospitals which has
recently spurred a new wave of medical tourism. The city of
Chennai has been termed India’s health capital. Multi and Super
specialty hospitals across the city bring in an estimated 150
international patients every day. Chennai attracts about 45
percent of health tourists from abroad arriving in the country and
30 to 40 percent of domestic health tourists.
In healthcare, South India is often compared with the developed
countries rather with other parts in the country. This fact proves the
mettle of the service provided in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Healthcare is Expensive in Developed Countries
Higher expense in developed countries and the comparative cost
advantage that South Indian hospitals offer is another factor. One
reason for steady arrivals of Foreign Patients from UK to India is