Even if you stand at a stolid degree of remove from anything subjective, the pull of the private equity and private healthcare tango in India today is palpable. Not a quarter goes by without a sizable deal.

“It’s a potent combination; insurance is the least insidious player now—to give the devil its due—but it won’t be for long,” said the co-founder of a 150-bed hospital in one of the southern cities. Despite building a standalone hospital, considered “financially and reputationally successful”, the founders had to sell out. It had become untenable to manage the wage bill as PE-backed........

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