Investor interest in hospitals peaked this year with investments by private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) firms rising by over 15 times to cross Rs 30,000 crore over a 4-year period from Rs 1,921 crore in pre-Covid 2019. This comes even as there is a slowdown in overall funding globally, with PE and VC investments declining 38% in India in 2023, the latest data from research firm Venture Intelligence showed. The hospital sector was red hot this year, with large hospital chains such as Manipal and Max attracting bulge-bracket investment firms as demand for private healthcare surged post the pandemic.