Indian ambulances getting an upgrade with more organized players

For instance, Maharashtra’s hinterland is set to get a key medical upgrade with the state government partnering with Sumeet-SSG—a joint venture between Pune-based Sumeet Group Enterprises’s and Spanish emergency transport provider SSG Matrix—to deploy a fleet of 1,756 advanced ambulances.

Maharashtra is just one example and the country's ambulance sector is seeing a shift towards organised ambulance players and also upgrades in the quality of ambulance service with key start-ups entering the segment.

The joint venture—with 51% investment from Sumeet-SSG and 49% from the Maharashtra government—will begin the roll out to implement its ‘Maharashtra Emergency Medical Services’ (MEMS) 108 ambulance project before the end of 2024 and complete it by the middle of next year.

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108 ambulance project

“The fleet deployment is likely to be completed by mid-2025," Summit Salunke, vice chairman, Sumeet Group Enterprises, said.

India’s ambulance services sector has been largely unorganised, however, it is steadily growing. The Indian ambulance market is projected to grow at a 5.1% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the 2024-2028 period, according to a report by consultancy Primus Partners. 

However, the report noted that the industry still lacks specialised care services. Of the 17,495 ambulances that are operational currently, only 3,441 are Advanced Life Support (ALS) units. These units have advanced equipment for critical care of patients, like cardiac monitors and ventilators. Basic Life Support (BLS) units make up a large part of the existing fleets, and focus on immediate care like cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). 

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The segment has seen the entry of more organised players in recent years.

Red.Health

Hyderabad-based start-up Red.Health, which started in 2016, has partnered with over 100 hospitals, including leading chains like Apollo and Fortis. The company provides its ambulance services, along with managing the hospital’s emergency call centres, in over 20 cities in India. 

Red.Health has over 200 ALS units in its fleet of 400 ambulances, Prabhdeep Singh, the company’s CEO and founder told Mint. In May, the company raised $20 million in its series B funding. The capital is being used to expand its fleet as well as focus on advancing their technology and improving their response times. Red.Health has a lot of takers in hospitals as well as individual patients. “More and more patients and hospitals are realising that unorganised operators are leading to a lot of issues," Singh said. “So the independent or the unorganised operators are getting blacklisted," he added.

Another Hyderabad-based start-up TEN, started in 2022, works as an ambulance aggregator. It has nearly 450 small-scale ambulance operators on its platform and partners with over 25 hospitals in 6 cities.

As an aggregator, the firm is aiming to standardise services and address operational issues like slow response times but profitability remains a concern.

TEN ambulance aggregator

“We are burning money right now," Kishore Manepalli, CEO and founder of TEN, told Mint. However, the company is in advanced talks for a second round of funding. In 2023, the start-up secured ₹1.5 crore in its angel funding round. Manepalli said the company is looking at turning profitable in the next 12-18 months. 

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Singh of Red.Health said the company is operationally profitable. “We are moving towards Ebitda profitability," he said. “The mission is to service the patients for nearly free and subsidise it by hospital partnerships". Ebitda is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. 

Salunke did not respond to the profitability question and said: “It’s a fixed service fee model billed to the government."