5,000+ patients guided through treatment in Delhi NCR Every case read by a US board-certified physician Written opinion with costs within 48 hours NABH and JCI accredited hospitals only Arabic, English, Russian and Bengali spoken Our fees are published — hospitals pay us, not you Medical visa invitation letters for eight countries
TIB HIND

If you have chest pain right now, or pain spreading to your arm, jaw or back with sweating or breathlessness, call an ambulance immediately. A heart attack is treated in hours at the nearest hospital. Do not wait, do not arrange travel, and do not message us first.

Home  /  Treatments  /  Heart treatment

Heart treatment in India

Bypass surgery, angioplasty, valve replacement and paediatric cardiac surgery at NABH and JCI accredited hospitals across Delhi NCR — at roughly a fifth to a third of what the same operation costs in Europe or the United States, with little or no waiting.

This is the specialty TIB HIND was built around. Dr. Annie Varughese is a US board-certified interventional cardiologist, and she reads every cardiac file that reaches us personally, before anyone discusses a hospital or a price with you.

Send my reports and angiogram Talk to us on WhatsApp

Free. No obligation. A written opinion within 48 hours.

Reviewing physician Verifiable
Dr. Annie Varughese, MD, FACC
Interventional Cardiologist · Partner, TIB HIND
Board certificationAmerican Board of Internal Medicine
Verify
State medical licenceTexas No. J8408 — active
Verify
US provider NPI1639112170
Verify
Check every number above yourself. Read Dr. Varughese's full profile →
Written and clinically reviewed by Dr. Annie Varughese, MD, FACC Last reviewed August 2026 Our editorial and medical review policy
Cost versus Europe or US
20–33%
Of the same procedure's price, depending on complexity
Time in India
10 days to 4 weeks
Angioplasty at the short end, bypass and valve surgery at the long end
Waiting time
Days, not months
Appointments are scheduled before you fly
Written opinion
Within 48 hours
From a board-certified cardiologist, at no cost
On this page
  1. Conditions we arrange treatment for
  2. Procedures, stay and recovery
  3. Choosing between a mechanical and a tissue valve
  4. Why cardiac patients come to India
  5. How we choose the hospital and surgeon
  6. Risks, and who should not travel
  7. What your trip looks like
  8. Questions patients ask
Conditions

Conditions we arrange treatment for

Each has its own page explaining what it is, how it is diagnosed, and how the treatment decision is actually made. If your diagnosis is not listed, send the reports anyway — cardiac disease rarely presents as a single tidy label.

ConditionDetailed page
Coronary artery diseaseRead → Rheumatic heart diseaseRead → Aortic valve stenosisRead → Mitral valve diseaseRead → Atrial fibrillation and arrhythmiaRead → Heart failure and cardiomyopathyRead → Aortic aneurysm and dissectionRead → Hole in the heart — ASD, VSD, PDARead → Tetralogy of FallotRead → Complex congenital defectsRead → Failure of a previously implanted valveRead → Infective endocarditisRead → Pulmonary hypertensionRead → Coarctation of the aortaRead → Transposition of the great arteriesRead →
Procedures

Procedures, stay and recovery

Hospital stays below are typical rather than promised, and assume an uncomplicated course. Cost figures are the ranges quoted to us by the hospitals we work with, and your written opinion will give you a figure for your own case.

Procedure 01

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)

Blocked coronary arteries are bypassed using healthy vessels taken from the chest wall, leg or forearm. It remains the strongest treatment for disease affecting several arteries at once, and for the left main artery. Surgeons in Delhi NCR perform both conventional on-pump and beating-heart (off-pump) bypass.

Hospital stay
5 to 7 days, of which 1 to 2 in intensive care
Total time in India
3 to 4 weeks, including recovery before you are fit to fly
Indicative cost
On request
Procedure 02

Angioplasty and stent placement

A catheter is passed from the wrist or groin to the blocked artery, the narrowing is opened with a balloon, and a drug-eluting stent holds it open. There is no surgical incision and no sternum to heal, which is why recovery is measured in days rather than weeks.

Hospital stay
1 to 2 days
Total time in India
10 to 14 days
Indicative cost
On request
Procedure 03

Heart valve repair and replacement

A damaged valve is either repaired or replaced. Repair is preferred wherever the valve allows it, because it preserves your own tissue and avoids the trade-offs that come with a prosthetic valve. Where replacement is necessary, the choice between a mechanical and a tissue valve is the single most consequential decision you will make — see the warning below before you agree to anything.

Hospital stay
6 to 8 days
Total time in India
3 to 4 weeks
Indicative cost
On request
Procedure 04

TAVI — transcatheter aortic valve implantation

A replacement aortic valve is delivered by catheter, without opening the chest. It was developed for patients considered too high-risk for conventional surgery, and is now used more widely. The device itself accounts for most of the cost, which is why TAVI is substantially more expensive than surgical valve replacement.

Hospital stay
3 to 5 days
Total time in India
2 to 3 weeks
Indicative cost
On request
Procedure 05

Pacemaker and defibrillator implantation

A pacemaker corrects a heart that beats too slowly or irregularly; an implantable defibrillator treats dangerous rhythms in patients at risk of sudden cardiac death. Both are implanted under local anaesthetic with sedation.

Hospital stay
1 to 2 days
Total time in India
7 to 10 days
Indicative cost
On request
Procedure 06

Paediatric and congenital heart surgery

Correction of defects children are born with — atrial and ventricular septal defects, patent ductus arteriosus, tetralogy of Fallot, coarctation of the aorta. This work needs a dedicated paediatric cardiac intensive care unit and a paediatric perfusion team, which not every hospital advertising cardiac surgery actually has. It is one of the first things we check.

Hospital stay
7 to 14 days, depending on the defect and the child's age
Total time in India
4 to 6 weeks
Indicative cost
On request
Procedure 07

Aortic aneurysm repair

An enlarged section of the aorta is repaired, either by open surgery or by placing a stent graft through the arteries (EVAR or TEVAR). Which is appropriate depends on where the aneurysm sits and its shape, not on preference.

Hospital stay
5 to 10 days
Total time in India
3 to 5 weeks
Indicative cost
On request
Read first

If you are being offered a valve replacement, read this before you agree

Two kinds of prosthetic valve exist, and the choice between them is the most consequential decision you will make. It is not really a question about valves. It is a question about where you live.

Mechanical valve

Durable and will usually outlast you. But it requires warfarin for the rest of your life, and warfarin requires regular INR blood tests. Too little and you risk a clot; too much and you risk a bleed.

Tissue valve

Avoids anticoagulation entirely, so no INR monitoring is needed. It typically needs replacing after ten to fifteen years, and a second operation carries its own risk.

The deciding question

Not which valve is better, but whether reliable INR monitoring exists near your home. If it does not, a mechanical valve can turn a successful operation into a lifelong hazard.

For a patient in their seventies that trade-off looks very different than for a patient of thirty. Dr. Varughese will go through it with you against your own age, your country and what monitoring you can realistically access, before you commit to anything — and it is a question a surgeon quoting you a price from another country may never think to ask.

Why India

Why cardiac patients come to India

Volume

India's major cardiac centres perform bypass and valve surgery in numbers most hospitals in Europe never reach. In cardiac surgery, the relationship between how often a team does an operation and how well it goes is one of the most consistent findings in the literature.

Cost

The same operation, with the same class of implant, at a fifth to a third of European or American prices. The saving is not in the quality of the device or the surgeon — it is in the underlying cost of running a hospital in India.

Access

No waiting list. For unstable coronary disease or severe valve disease, the interval between diagnosis and treatment is itself a clinical risk, and in Delhi NCR that interval is measured in days.

None of this means India is the right answer for everyone, and the section below sets out plainly who should not travel.

Selection

How we choose the hospital and surgeon

For cardiac work we apply five tests, in this order.

01
Volume in your specific operation
Not the hospital's total cardiac numbers — how often that surgeon performs the procedure you need.
02
The named surgeon and their subspecialty
Valve surgeons, coronary surgeons and paediatric cardiac surgeons are not interchangeable.
03
Cardiac intensive care
A dedicated cardiac ICU with round-the-clock intensivist cover. For children, a separate paediatric cardiac ICU and perfusion team.
04
Accreditation, verified and current
NABH or JCI, checked rather than assumed.
05
How quickly you can be seen
With unstable disease, the best surgeon in the city is no use if the first slot is in six weeks.
Honestly

Risks, and who should not travel

Cardiac surgery carries real risk of death and of serious complication. The figures vary enormously by procedure, by your age, and by what other conditions you have. Any company that quotes you a success rate without seeing your reports is quoting you a marketing number. Ask your surgeon for the risk in your case, and ask them for their own unit's figures rather than national averages.

Some patients should not fly to India for treatment

If any of these describe you, tell us immediately and we will say so plainly rather than book you a flight. We have done this before and we would rather lose the case than take it.

Unstable angina or an evolving heart attack

This needs treatment where you are, immediately. Do not board a plane. Go to your nearest emergency department.

Decompensated heart failure

If you are breathless at rest or unable to lie flat, you need stabilising locally before travel can even be discussed.

Severe aortic stenosis with syncope

Fainting from aortic stenosis is a warning sign that carries a serious short-term risk. Air travel may not be safe without local assessment first.

Your trip

What your trip looks like

A bypass or valve patient, from first message to landing back home.

01
Send reports — day one
Angiogram or echo report, ECG, recent bloods, discharge summaries. Photographs from your phone are fine.
02
Written opinion — within 48 hours
What we believe you need, the recommended hospital and surgeon with reasoning, and a cost range with its variables.
03
Visa and travel — about one to two weeks
We issue the invitation letter for your medical visa and your attendant's medical attendant visa.
04
Arrival and assessment — days one to three
Airport pickup, accommodation near the hospital, consultation and pre-operative tests. The surgeon confirms the plan and the final cost.
05
Surgery and hospital stay — five to eight days
A coordinator who speaks your language is present for consultations and handles the paperwork.
06
Recovery before flying — two to three weeks
Outpatient reviews, wound checks and medication adjustment until your surgeon signs the fitness-to-fly assessment.
07
Follow-up from home
Remote reviews with the same surgeon, and your records sent to your own doctor. Included, not extra.
Start with a free review of your reports
Questions

Questions cardiac patients ask

After bypass or valve surgery, most patients are cleared to fly two to three weeks after the operation, and we plan your return date accordingly rather than booking it in advance. After angioplasty it is usually within a week. Your surgeon signs the fitness-to-fly assessment, not us, and airlines can refuse boarding without it.

This depends heavily on where you live, and it is the question we spend most time on. A mechanical valve lasts decades but requires warfarin for life, with regular INR blood tests. If reliable anticoagulation monitoring is not available near your home, that is a serious consideration rather than a detail. A tissue valve avoids lifelong blood thinners but may need replacing after ten to fifteen years. Dr. Varughese will discuss both against your own circumstances before you travel.

Yes, and paediatric congenital cases are among the most common we arrange. What matters is that the hospital has a dedicated paediatric cardiac intensive care unit and a paediatric perfusion team — we verify that before recommending anywhere. Plan for four to six weeks in India, and bring one parent as an attendant on a medical attendant visa.

No. Do not stop or change any cardiac medication without instruction from the doctor who prescribed it. Bring your medicines with you, along with a written list of names and doses, since brand names differ between countries.

Neither is better in general — they treat different patterns of disease. Angioplasty suits disease in one or two vessels and has a far shorter recovery. Bypass is usually the stronger option for disease in several vessels, disease in the left main artery, and for many patients with diabetes. Your angiogram determines the answer, which is why we ask for it.

Your discharge summary, imaging and operative notes go with you and are sent to your own doctor. We arrange remote follow-up reviews with the consultant who treated you, and if a local doctor needs to speak to them, we set that up. This is included, not an extra service.

For cardiac surgery, yes — one attendant is strongly advisable and the Indian medical attendant visa exists for exactly this. Accommodation for your attendant is part of what we arrange.

Related pages: Heart surgery cost in India  ·  All treatments  ·  Dr. Annie Varughese  ·  Our hospital network  ·  Medical visa guides

Contact

Send us your reports

For a cardiac case, the angiogram or echocardiogram report is the single most useful document. Send whatever you have and Dr. Varughese will reply within 48 hours.

Your reports go directly to our medical team. We do not share your records with hospitals until you tell us to.

WhatsApp +91 83035 86344  ·  Phone +91 83035 86344  ·  Email tibhind@gmail.com

Coordinators available 9:00–20:00 IST. We speak Arabic, English, Russian and Bengali.