New Delhi, Jan 12 (IANS): India's physical rehab market is likely to grow at a CAGR of 15.5 per cent in the next 5 years to reach $35 billion by FY2028, a report showed on Thursday.

Physical rehab in India currently is a $17 billion market, comprising three major segments -- restorative care ($5 billion market), geriatric care ($5 billion market) and pain relief ($3-4 billion market).

As per Redseer estimates, 35-40 per cent of the physical rehab spend in India is concentrated in the top 10 cities.

Majority of rehab is currently provided by hospitals and local unorganised players. Hospitals dominate the critical restorative rehab segment and local providers lead the non-critical geriatric and pain-relief segments.

However, both of them aren't able to aptly serve the consumer needs.

Despite providing a standard service, consumers find rehab at hospitals to be expensive and lacking a recovery-focused environment, said the report.

And, while local players are more affordable, they lack the basic quality and professionalism in service and have limited ability to address complex situations.

This has created a strong need for specialized players in the rehab market.

"Specialised rehab providers with wide segment coverage have access to a larger TAM and potential to create a stronger brand in the rehab space among both consumers and doctors," said Kushal Bhatnagar, Engagement Manager at Redseer.

"Players with a stronger tech enablement are better placed to thrive in the market, as they can address the consumers' latent needs, which will become crucial in the future years," he added.

In order to scale in this market, specialised players need to have strong control over training and onboarding of their medical staff, as they hold the key to the quality of consumers' experience.