New Delhi, March 12 (IANS): An international trade fair highlighting the growth potential of India's $100 billion healthcare sector will begin in Mumbai Friday.

More than 450 exhibitors from 20 countries and over 8,000 visitors from 22 countries are expected to take part in the trade fair, organisers said.

The 20th Medical Fair India 2014 (MFI 2014), the country's oldest and largest international trade exhibition and conference on diagnostics, medical equipment and technology, will be held March 14-16, at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon.

Jointly organized by Germany's Messe Düsseldorf and its Indian subsidiary, the expo would serve as a platform for exchange of ideas on current issues concerning the sector.

With rising incomes and growing literacy, healthcare spending in India is expected to rise by 12 percent per annum. An estimate suggests that by 2017 healthcare spending could contribute 9 percent of GDP and employ around 10 million people.

The healthcare sector is growing at a rate of about 20 percent annually and will be worth $100 billion by 2015 end.

The primary growth areas are the medical equipment segment, teleradiology or a means of electronic transmission of radiological images such as X-rays, CTs and MRIs from one location to another for the purposes of interpretation and/or consultation, healthcare BPOs and pathology outsourcing to name a few.